ácido vs açude, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ácido” is an adjective and “açude” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,441
“ácido” frequency rank: #16,686
“açude” frequency rank: 21127
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ácido	açude
Definition	que possui um sabor azedo, picante, acre, como o do vinagre	construção destinada a represar as águas de um rio

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ácido and açude apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

ácido

5 ch

açude

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ácido is /ˈa.si.du/ while açude is /ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ácido is recorded at frequency rank #4,441, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈa.si.du/. açude is at rank #16,686, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/.

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 21127, this pair ranks #49,225 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ácido vs açude

Shared letters: d. Private to "ácido": cioá. Private to "açude": aeuç.

"ácido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "açude" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequency comparison

ácido#4,441

açude#16,686

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ácido" and "açude" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ácido" is an adjective and "açude" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ácido" or "açude"?

"ácido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,441 in our Portuguese list, against #16,686 for "açude". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ácido vs açude

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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