Which to use
“calão” is an adjective and “calhau” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,032
- “calão” frequency rank
- #41,869
- “calhau” frequency rank
- 80901
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calão | calhau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não trabalha tanto quanto deveria | fragmento de rocha dura; pedra solta; seixo; rebo |
Where the eye mixes calão and calhau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. calão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against calhau's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between calão and calhau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calão is /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/ while calhau is /kɐ.ˈʎaw/. 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 80901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calão is recorded at frequency rank #39,032, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. calhau is at rank #41,869, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈʎaw/.
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 80901, this pair ranks #1,246 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of calão vs calhau
Shared letters: acl. Private to "calão": oã. Private to "calhau": hu.
"calão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "calhau" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- calhau ← aclhau · cahlau · calahu · calhhau · calhua · callhau · ccalhau · clahau
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "calão" and "calhau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "calão" or "calhau"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "calão" and "calhau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "calão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "calhau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,246 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calão" and "calhau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calhau vs chau". 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 #1,246 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.