súbito vs surto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“súbito” is an adjective and “surto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,891
“súbito” frequency rank: #9,267
“surto” frequency rank: 31158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	súbito	surto
Definition	repentino	variação repentina da corrente num circuito elétrico

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set súbito and surto apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

súbito

5 ch

surto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: súbito is /ˈsu.bi.tu/ while surto is /ˈsuɾ.tu/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

súbito is recorded at frequency rank #21,891, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsu.bi.tu/. surto is at rank #9,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsuɾ.tu/.

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 31158, this pair ranks #37,015 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of súbito vs surto

Shared letters: ost. Private to "súbito": biú. Private to "surto": ru.

"súbito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "surto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

surto ← sruto · ssurto · surot · surrto · surtto · sutro · usrto

Frequency comparison

súbito#21,891

surto#9,267

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "súbito" and "surto" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "súbito" is an adjective and "surto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "súbito" or "surto"?

"surto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,267 in our Portuguese list, against #21,891 for "súbito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering súbito vs surto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “súbito”; for a noun, it's “surto”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “súbito” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable