cagãovscartãoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,313
“cagão” frequency rank
#1,769
“cartão” frequency rank
45082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cagão cartão
Definition cagão, que defeca com muita frequência papel forte

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cagão and cartão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cagão
6 ch
cartão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cagão is /kɐ.'gaŋ/ e /kɐ.'goŋ/ while cartão is /kɐɾ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/. 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 45082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cagão is recorded at frequency rank #43,313, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.'gaŋ/ e /kɐ.'goŋ/. cartão is at rank #1,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐɾ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.

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 45082, this pair ranks #20,348 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cagão vs cartão

Shared letters: acoã. Private to "cagão": g. Private to "cartão": rt.

"cagão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "cartão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

cagão#43,313
cartão#1,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cagão" and "cartão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cagão" is an adjective and "cartão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cagão" or "cartão"?
"cartão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,769 in our Portuguese list, against #43,313 for "cagão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cagão vs cartão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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