tiovstúlioWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,211
“tio” frequency rank
#20,459
“túlio” frequency rank
22670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tio túlio
Definition irmão da mãe ou do pai elemento químico de símbolo Tm, possui o número atômico 69 e massa atômica relativa 168,934 u; é um metal de transição interna (lantanídeo) de cor branco prateado; é obtido de minerais ricos em ítrio como a gadolinita, euxenita e a fergusonita; por ser muito raro e de custo muito elevado suas aplicações são muito restritas; é utilizado em aparelhos de raio-x portáteis e em equipamentos de laboratório

Where the eye mixes tio and túlio

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

3 ch
tio
5 ch
túlio

Look-alike desk: tio vs túlio

A purely visual mix-up. tio (/ti.u/ [t͡ʃiu̯], [tiu̯]) and túlio (/ˈtu.lju/) 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 22670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tio is recorded at frequency rank #2,211, classified as anoun, pronounced /ti.u/ [t͡ʃiu̯], [tiu̯]. túlio is at rank #20,459, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtu.lju/.

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 22670, this pair ranks #47,327 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tio vs túlio

Shared letters: iot. Private to "tio": -. Private to "túlio": .

"tio" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "túlio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tio" and "túlio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ti.u/ [t͡ʃiu̯], [tiu̯] versus /ˈtu.lju/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tio" or "túlio" show up more?
"tio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,211 in our Portuguese list, against #20,459 for "túlio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "tio" and "túlio" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "túlio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,327 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tio" and "túlio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tufo vs túlio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #47,327 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