tampovstapWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,618
“tampo” frequency rank
#22,172
“tap” frequency rank
67790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tampo tap
Definition o mesmo que tampa; objeto que serve para tampar, vedar, tapar, etc torneira

Where the eye mixes tampo and tap

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tampo
3 ch
tap

Visual trap between tampo and tap

A purely visual mix-up. tampo (/ˈtɐ̃.pu/) and tap (/tæp/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tampo is recorded at frequency rank #45,618, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɐ̃.pu/. tap is at rank #22,172, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tæp/.

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 67790, this pair ranks #4,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tampo vs tap

Shared letters: apt. Private to "tampo": mo. Private to "tap": -.

"tampo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tap" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tampoatmpo · tammpo · tamop · tamppo · tapmo · tmapo · ttampo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tampo" and "tap" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtɐ̃.pu/ versus /tæp/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tampo" or "tap"?
"tap" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,172 in our Portuguese list, against #45,618 for "tampo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tampo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tap" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tampo" and "tap" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tampo vs trampa". 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 #4,495 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