Which to use
“agência” and “ausência” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,302
- “agência” frequency rank
- #2,353
- “ausência” frequency rank
- 3655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | agência | ausência |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | função ou escritório do agente | a não presença |
Where the eye mixes agência and ausência
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. agência runs 7 letters (VCVCCVV) against ausência's 8 (VVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses agência with ausência
A purely visual mix-up. agência (/ɐ.ˈʒẽ.sjɐ/) and ausência (/aw.ˈzẽ.sjɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
agência is recorded at frequency rank #1,302, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈʒẽ.sjɐ/. ausência is at rank #2,353, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aw.ˈzẽ.sjɐ/.
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 3655, this pair ranks #71,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of agência vs ausência
Shared letters: acinê. Private to "agência": g. Private to "ausência": su.
"agência" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "ausência" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "agência" for "ausência" ever safe?
Which is more common, "agência" or "ausência"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "agência" and "ausência" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "agência" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausência" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "agência" and "ausência" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anuência vs ausência". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #71,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.