balancevsbalançoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“balance” and “balanço” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,793
“balance” frequency rank
#6,987
“balanço” frequency rank
27780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature balance balanço
Definition balança movimento oscilatório

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set balance and balanço apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
balance
7 ch
balanço

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. balance (/balɑ̃s/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and balanço (/bɐ.ˈlɐ̃.su/) 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 27780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

balance is recorded at frequency rank #20,793, classified as anoun, pronounced /balɑ̃s/ ouvir^(fonte ?). balanço is at rank #6,987, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɐ.ˈlɐ̃.su/.

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 27780, this pair ranks #41,156 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of balance vs balanço

Shared letters: abln. Private to "balance": ce. Private to "balanço": .

"balance" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "balanço" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • balanceablance · baalnce · balacne · balancce · balanec · balannce · ballance · balnace

Frequency comparison

balance#20,793
balanço#6,987

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "balance" and "balanço" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/balɑ̃s/ ouvir^(fonte ?) versus /bɐ.ˈlɐ̃.su/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "balance" or "balanço"?
"balanço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,987 in our Portuguese list, against #20,793 for "balance". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering balance vs balanço

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “balance” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list