Which to use
“jan” is a noun and “João” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,412
- “jan” frequency rank
- #41,851
- “João” frequency rank
- 50263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | jan | João |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacune des deux tables du jeu de trictrac. | Prénom masculin portugais. |
Where the eye mixes jan and João
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: jan vs João
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: jan is \ʒɑ̃\ while João is \ʒo.ɑ̃\. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
jan is recorded at frequency rank #8,412, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʒɑ̃\. João is at rank #41,851, tagged as aname, pronounced \ʒo.ɑ̃\.
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 50263, this pair ranks #164,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of jan vs João
Shared letters: j. Private to "jan": an. Private to "João": oã.
"jan" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "João" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "jan" for "João" ever safe?
Which is more common, "jan" or "João"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "jan" and "João" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "jan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "João" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "jan" and "João" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "João vs jor". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #164,045 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.