trabalhar vs trabalho, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“trabalhar” is a verb and “trabalho” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#575
“trabalhar” frequency rank: #131
“trabalho” frequency rank: 706
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	trabalhar	trabalho
Definition	realizar alguma atividade em troca de remuneração	atividade física ou intelectual

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set trabalhar and trabalho apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

trabalhar

8 ch

trabalho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trabalhar is /tɾɐ.bɐ.ˈʎaɾ/ while trabalho is /tɾɐ.ˈba.ʎu/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trabalhar is recorded at frequency rank #575, classified as averb, pronounced /tɾɐ.bɐ.ˈʎaɾ/. trabalho is at rank #131, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɾɐ.ˈba.ʎu/.

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 706, this pair ranks #74,945 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of trabalhar vs trabalho

Shared letters: abhlrt. Private to "trabalhar": -. Private to "trabalho": o.

"trabalhar" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "trabalho" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

trabalhar ← rtabalhar · tarbalhar · traablhar · trabahlar · trabalahr · trabalharr · trabalhhar · trabalhra
trabalho ← rtabalho · tarbalho · traablho · trabahlo · trabalhho · traballho · trabaloh · trabbalho

Frequency comparison

trabalhar#575

trabalho#131

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trabalhar" and "trabalho" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "trabalhar" is a verb and "trabalho" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "trabalhar" or "trabalho"?

"trabalho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #131 in our Portuguese list, against #575 for "trabalhar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering trabalhar vs trabalho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “trabalhar”; for a noun, it's “trabalho”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “trabalhar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable