Which to use
“were” and “work” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,865
- “were” frequency rank
- #6,253
- “work” frequency rank
- 20118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | were | work |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | homem, algo hominizado | trabalho |
Letter map: were vs work
Shared letters muted; letters that set were and work apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Pair insight - were / work
were and work 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
were is recorded at frequency rank #13,865, classified as anoun. work is at rank #6,253, tagged as anoun.
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 20118, this pair ranks #50,477 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of were vs work
Shared letters: rw. Private to "were": e. Private to "work": ko.
"were" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "work" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "were" and "work" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "were" or "work"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "were" and "work".
- Full dictionary entry for "were" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "work" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,477 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "were" and "work" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "were vs worm". 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 #50,477 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.