Which to use
“serviço” is a noun and “servil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #528
- “serviço” frequency rank
- #38,911
- “servil” frequency rank
- 39439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | serviço | servil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o ato de servir | bajulador |
Where the eye mixes serviço and servil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses serviço with servil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serviço is /sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/ while servil is /sɨɾ.ˈviɫ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
serviço is recorded at frequency rank #528, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/. servil is at rank #38,911, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈviɫ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 39439, this pair ranks #26,797 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of serviço vs servil
Shared letters: eirsv. Private to "serviço": oç. Private to "servil": l.
"serviço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "servil" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- servil ← esrvil · serivl · serrvil · servill · servli · servvil · sevril · srevil
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "serviço" and "servil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "serviço" vs "servil" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "serviço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "servil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,797 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "serviço" and "servil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serviçal vs servil". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #26,797 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.