ação vs ao, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ação” is an intj and “ao” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#594
“ação” frequency rank: #27
“ao” frequency rank: 621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ação	ao
Definition	expressa a grupo de participantes envolvidos em uma interpretação e sua gravação, que dêem início à sua atividade coordenada e conjuntamente	contração da preposição a com o artigo definido o

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

ação

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ação is /ɐ.ˈsɐ̃u̯ while ao is /aw/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ação is recorded at frequency rank #594, classified as anintj, pronounced /ɐ.ˈsɐ̃u̯. ao is at rank #27, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /aw/.

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 621, this pair ranks #75,050 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ação vs ao

Shared letters: ao. Private to "ação": ãç. Private to "ao": -.

"ação" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "ao" · 2 letters · shape VV

Frequency comparison

ação#594

ao#27

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ação" and "ao" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ação" is an intj and "ao" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ação" or "ao"?

"ao" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27 in our Portuguese list, against #594 for "ação". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ação vs ao

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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