Which to use
“adesão” and “adoção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,364
- “adesão” frequency rank
- #5,487
- “adoção” frequency rank
- 11851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adesão | adoção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato, processo ou efeito de aderir | ação ou resultado de adotar, de aceitar (alguém ou algo) |
Where the eye mixes adesão and adoção
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. adesão and adoção follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses adesão with adoção
A purely visual mix-up. adesão (/ɐ.dɨ.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and adoção (/a.doˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adesão is recorded at frequency rank #6,364, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.dɨ.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. adoção is at rank #5,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced /a.doˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 11851, this pair ranks #60,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adesão vs adoção
Shared letters: adoã. Private to "adesão": es. Private to "adoção": ç.
"adesão" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV · "adoção" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "adesão" and "adoção" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "adesão" or "adoção" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "adesão" and "adoção" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "adesão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adoção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adesão" and "adoção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abdução vs adoção". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #60,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.