sérviovsservoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sérvio is a adjective, servo is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sérvio” is an adjective and “servo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,357
“sérvio” frequency rank
#10,270
“servo” frequency rank
21627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sérvio servo
Definition relacionado à Sérvia tomar conta, guardar.

Where the eye mixes sérvio and servo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sérvio
5 ch
servo

Visual trap between sérvio and servo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sérvio is /ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/ while servo is /ˈser.woː/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sérvio is recorded at frequency rank #11,357, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/. servo is at rank #10,270, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈser.woː/.

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 21627, this pair ranks #48,585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sérvio vs servo

Shared letters: orsv. Private to "sérvio": . Private to "servo": e.

"sérvio" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "servo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • servoesrvo · serov · serrvo · servvo · sevro · srevo · sservo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sérvio" and "servo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sérvio" is an adjective and "servo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sérvio" or "servo" show up more?
"servo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,270 in our Portuguese list, against #11,357 for "sérvio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sérvio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "servo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sérvio" and "servo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seno vs servo". 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 #48,585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list