tão

/ˈtɐ̃w̃/

//ˈtɐ̃w̃// adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“tão” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #119) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#119
frequency rank, Portuguese
1,850
“T” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - tanto, com tal intensidade

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tão vs te
33% similar
tão vs to
67% similar
tão vs tu
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tão
PropertyValue
Headwordtão
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ˈtɐ̃w̃/
Letters3
Frequency rank#119
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tão” sits in Portuguese frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). tão lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for tão is neighbouring look-alikes ("te", "to", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced /ˈtɐ̃w̃/. Frequency #119 among 1,850 “T” headwords. Gloss: "tanto, com tal intensidade".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tão, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "te", "to", "tu", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Portuguese form is tão, spelled T-Ã-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    tanto, com tal intensidade

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tão"?
"tão" is spelled T-Ã-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɐ̃w̃/.
What does "tão" mean?
As an adverb, "tão" means: tanto, com tal intensidade
What words are commonly confused with "tão"?
"tão" is commonly confused with "te", "to", "tu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tão"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tão" is /ˈtɐ̃w̃/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tão" come from?
"tão" is a Portuguese word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “tão”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Portuguese spelling is T-Ã-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈtɐ̃w̃/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “te” - see the side-by-side comparison. tão vs te
  • Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words

Words at a similar Portuguese frequency

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list