sucçãovssulcoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“sucção” and “sulco” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,463
“sucção” frequency rank
#45,610
“sulco” frequency rank
70073
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sucção sulco
Definition ato ou efeito de sugar; sugação rego

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sucção and sulco apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
sucção
5 ch
sulco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sucção (/su.ˈksɐ̃w̃/) and sulco (/ˈsuɫ.ku/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucção is recorded at frequency rank #24,463, classified as anoun, pronounced /su.ˈksɐ̃w̃/. sulco is at rank #45,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsuɫ.ku/.

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 70073, this pair ranks #3,748 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sucção vs sulco

Shared letters: cosu. Private to "sucção": ãç. Private to "sulco": l.

"sucção" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "sulco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sulcosluco · ssulco · suclo · sulcco · sullco · suloc · uslco

Frequency comparison

sucção#24,463
sulco#45,610

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sucção" and "sulco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/su.ˈksɐ̃w̃/ versus /ˈsuɫ.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sucção" or "sulco"?
"sucção" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,463 in our Portuguese list, against #45,610 for "sulco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sucção vs sulco

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sucção” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list