Which to use
“serviço” is a noun and “sérvio” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #528
- “serviço” frequency rank
- #11,357
- “sérvio” frequency rank
- 11885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | serviço | sérvio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o ato de servir | relacionado à Sérvia |
Where the eye mixes serviço and sérvio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses serviço with sérvio
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serviço is /sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/ while sérvio is /ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/. 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 11885, 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/. sérvio is at rank #11,357, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/.
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 11885, this pair ranks #60,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of serviço vs sérvio
Shared letters: iorsv. Private to "serviço": eç. Private to "sérvio": é.
"serviço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "sérvio" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "serviço" and "sérvio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "serviço" or "sérvio" show up more?
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 "sérvio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "serviço" and "sérvio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sereis vs sérvio". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #60,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.