usufruir vs usufruto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#20,745
“usufruir” frequency rank: #35,384
“usufruto” frequency rank: 56129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	usufruir	usufruto
Definition	ter o usufruto de bem que não é de sua propriedade	ato ou efeito de usufruir; aquilo que se usufrui

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set usufruir and usufruto apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

usufruir

8 ch

usufruto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: usufruir is /u.zu.fɾu.ˈiɾ/ while usufruto is /u.zu.ˈfɾu.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

usufruir is recorded at frequency rank #20,745, classified as averb, pronounced /u.zu.fɾu.ˈiɾ/. usufruto is at rank #35,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced /u.zu.ˈfɾu.tu/.

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 56129, this pair ranks #10,154 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of usufruir vs usufruto

Shared letters: frsu. Private to "usufruir": i. Private to "usufruto": ot.

"usufruir" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC · "usufruto" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

usufruir ← suufruir · usfuruir · ussufruir · usuffruir · usufriur · usufrruir · usufruirr · usufruri
usufruto ← suufruto · usfuruto · ussufruto · usuffruto · usufrruto · usufrtuo · usufruot · usufrutto

Frequency comparison

usufruir#20,745

usufruto#35,384

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "usufruir" and "usufruto" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "usufruir" or "usufruto"?

"usufruir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,745 in our Portuguese list, against #35,384 for "usufruto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering usufruir vs usufruto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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