JoãovsjoinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: João is a name, join is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“João” is a name and “join” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,851
“João” frequency rank
#38,380
“join” frequency rank
80231
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature João join
Definition Prénom masculin portugais. Joint, interconnexion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set João and join apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
João
4 ch
join

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: João is \ʒo.ɑ̃\ while join is \d͡ʒɔɪn\. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

João is recorded at frequency rank #41,851, classified as aname, pronounced \ʒo.ɑ̃\. join is at rank #38,380, tagged as anoun, pronounced \d͡ʒɔɪn\.

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 80231, this pair ranks #21,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of João vs join

Shared letters: jo. Private to "João": ã. Private to "join": in.

"João" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "join" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • joinjion · jjoin · joinn · joni · ojin

Frequency comparison

João#41,851
join#38,380

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "João" and "join" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "João" is a name and "join" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "João" or "join"?
"join" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,380 in our French list, against #41,851 for "João". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering João vs join

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list