Which to use
“zé” is a noun and “zero” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,176
- “zé” frequency rank
- #2,031
- “zero” frequency rank
- 5207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zé | zero |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indivíduo comum, do povo | cardinalidade do conjunto vazio, o número de elementos de um conjunto que não tem elementos |
Letter map: zé vs zero
Shared letters muted; letters that set zé and zero apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for zé / zero
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: zé is anoun and zeroanum. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zé is recorded at frequency rank #3,176, classified as anoun. zero is at rank #2,031, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈzɛ.ɾu/.
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 5207, this pair ranks #69,467 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of zé vs zero
Shared letters: z. Private to "zé": é. Private to "zero": eor.
"zé" · 2 letters · shape CV · "zero" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- zero ← ezro · zeor · zerro · zreo · zzero
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zé" and "zero" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "zé" or "zero"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "zé" and "zero".
- Full dictionary entry for "zé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zero" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,467 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zé" and "zero" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zag vs zé". 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 #69,467 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.