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 eye mixes calada and calão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. calada runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against calão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses calada with calão
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": oã.
"calada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "calão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- calada ← aclada · caalda · calaad · caladda · caldaa · callada · ccalada · claada
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "calada" and "calão" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "calada" or "calão"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "calada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "calão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,838 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calada" and "calão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calão vs ciao". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #16,838 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.