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 eye mixes súbito and surto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. súbito runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against surto's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: súbito vs surto
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "súbito" and "surto" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "súbito" vs "surto" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "súbito" and "surto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "súbito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "surto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,015 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "súbito" and "surto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sueño vs surto". 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 #37,015 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.