ânimovsanoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ânimo is a intj, ano is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ânimo” is an intj and “ano” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,571
“ânimo” frequency rank
#99
“ano” frequency rank
11670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ânimo ano
Definition coragem, força período de tempo correspondente à revolução da Terra em torno do Sol que equivale a 365 dias, 6 horas, 13 minutos e 53 segundos

Where the eye mixes ânimo and ano

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ânimo
3 ch
ano

Visual trap between ânimo and ano

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ânimo is /ˈɐ.ni.mu/ while ano is /ˈãⁿ.nu/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ânimo is recorded at frequency rank #11,571, classified as anintj, pronounced /ˈɐ.ni.mu/. ano is at rank #99, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈãⁿ.nu/.

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 11670, this pair ranks #61,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ânimo vs ano

Shared letters: no. Private to "ânimo": imâ. Private to "ano": a.

"ânimo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ano" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ânimo" for "ano" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ânimo" is an intj and "ano" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ânimo" vs "ano" - which ranks higher?
"ano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #99 in our Portuguese list, against #11,571 for "ânimo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "ânimo" and "ano" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ânimo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ano" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ânimo" and "ano" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ânimo vs antro". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #61,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list