caladavscalãoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,304
“calada” frequency rank
#39,032
“calão” frequency rank
48336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calada calão
Definition ato ou efeito de calar-se que não trabalha tanto quanto deveria

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
calada
5 ch
calão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calada is /kɐ.ˈla.dɐ/ while calão is /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calada is recorded at frequency rank #9,304, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈla.dɐ/. 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 48336, this pair ranks #16,838 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calada vs calão

Shared letters: acl. Private to "calada": d. Private to "calão": .

"calada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "calão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caladaaclada · caalda · calaad · caladda · caldaa · callada · ccalada · claada

Frequency comparison

calada#9,304
calão#39,032

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calada" and "calão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "calada" is a noun and "calão" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "calada" or "calão"?
"calada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,304 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 calada vs calão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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