cacovscalãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: caco is a noun, calão is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#21,952
“caco” frequency rank
#39,032
“calão” frequency rank
60984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco calão
Definition fragmento ou pedaço quebrado de louça, barro, vidro, mármore etc que não trabalha tanto quanto deveria

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
caco
5 ch
calão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: caco is anoun and calãoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caco is recorded at frequency rank #21,952, classified as anoun. calão is at rank #39,032, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/.

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 60984, this pair ranks #7,372 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs calão

Shared letters: aco. Private to "caco": -. Private to "calão": .

"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "calão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao

Frequency comparison

caco#21,952
calão#39,032

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caco" and "calão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caco" is a noun and "calão" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caco" or "calão"?
"caco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,952 in our Portuguese list, against #39,032 for "calão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caco vs calão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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