tremavstrevasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#47,651
“trema” frequency rank
#7,988
“trevas” frequency rank
55639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trema trevas
Definition sinal ortográfico (¨) usado em diversas línguas para alterar o som de uma vogal ou para assinalar a independência dessa vogal em relação a uma vogal anterior ou posterior, constituindo-se às vezes em uma vogal própria e distinta no alfabeto escuridão

Where the eye mixes trema and trevas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
trema
6 ch
trevas

Visual trap between trema and trevas

A purely visual mix-up. trema (/ˈtɾe.mɐ/) and trevas (/ˈtɾɛ.vɐʃ/) 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 55639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trema is recorded at frequency rank #47,651, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɾe.mɐ/. trevas is at rank #7,988, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɾɛ.vɐʃ/.

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 55639, this pair ranks #10,480 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of trema vs trevas

Shared letters: aert. Private to "trema": m. Private to "trevas": sv.

"trema" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "trevas" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tremartema · terma · tream · tremma · trmea · trrema · ttrema
  • trevasrtevas · tervas · treavs · trevass · trevsa · trevvas · trrevas · trveas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trema" and "trevas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtɾe.mɐ/ versus /ˈtɾɛ.vɐʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "trema" vs "trevas" - which ranks higher?
"trevas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,988 in our Portuguese list, against #47,651 for "trema". 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 "trema" and "trevas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trema" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trevas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,480 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trema" and "trevas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trampa vs trema". 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 #10,480 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