terceiravsterceiroWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,661
“terceira” frequency rank
#1,228
“terceiro” frequency rank
2889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature terceira terceiro
Definition feminino de terceiro refere-se àquele que ocupa a posição terciária em uma série; o que vem depois do segundo

Letter map: terceira vs terceiro

Shared letters muted; letters that set terceira and terceiro apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. terceira and terceiro follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
terceira
8 ch
terceiro

Corpus notes: terceira and terceiro

terceira and terceiro are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - a in “terceira” becomes o in “terceiro”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

terceira is recorded at frequency rank #1,661, classified as anadj, pronounced /tɨɾ.ˈsɐj.ɾɐ/. terceiro is at rank #1,228, tagged as anadj.

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 2889, this pair ranks #72,344 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of terceira vs terceiro

Shared letters: ceirt. Private to "terceira": a. Private to "terceiro": o.

"terceira" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "terceiro" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • terceira ← etrceira · tecreira · tercceira · terceiar · terceirra · terceria · terciera · terecira
  • terceiro ← etrceiro · tecreiro · tercceiro · terceior · terceirro · tercerio · terciero · tereciro

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "terceira" and "terceiro" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by a single letter - a in “terceira” becomes o in “terceiro”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "terceira" or "terceiro"?
"terceiro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,228 in our Portuguese list, against #1,661 for "terceira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "terceira" and "terceiro".

  • Full dictionary entry for "terceira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "terceiro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,344 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "terceira" and "terceiro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terceira vs terreiro". 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 #72,344 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