caçadovscacauWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: caçado is a adjective, cacau is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,617
“caçado” frequency rank
#9,010
“cacau” frequency rank
47627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caçado cacau
Definition que foi abatido em uma caça fruto do cacaueiro (ou cacauzeiro), cuja semente é usada na produção de chocolate e manteiga de cacau

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caçado and cacau apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
caçado
5 ch
cacau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caçado is /ka.ˈsa.du/ while cacau is /kɐ.ˈkaw/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caçado is recorded at frequency rank #38,617, classified as anadj, pronounced /ka.ˈsa.du/. cacau is at rank #9,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈkaw/.

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 47627, this pair ranks #17,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caçado vs cacau

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caçado": doç. Private to "cacau": u.

"caçado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cacau" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacauaccau · caacu · caccau · cacua · ccaau · ccacau

Frequency comparison

caçado#38,617
cacau#9,010

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caçado" and "cacau" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caçado" is an adjective and "cacau" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caçado" or "cacau"?
"cacau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,010 in our Portuguese list, against #38,617 for "caçado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caçado vs cacau

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “caçado”; for a noun, it's “cacau”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “caçado” 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