caldovscuandoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: caldo is a noun, cuando is a conjunction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caldo” is a noun and “cuando” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,677
“caldo” frequency rank
#29,659
“cuando” frequency rank
43336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caldo cuando
Definition alimento líquido que se prepara cozendo em água substâncias alimentícias quando

Where the eye mixes caldo and cuando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
caldo
6 ch
cuando

Why the eye confuses caldo with cuando

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caldo is /ˈkaɫ.du/ while cuando is /ˈkwando/. 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 conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caldo is recorded at frequency rank #13,677, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkaɫ.du/. cuando is at rank #29,659, tagged as aconj, pronounced /ˈkwando/.

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 43336, this pair ranks #22,308 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caldo vs cuando

Shared letters: acdo. Private to "caldo": l. Private to "cuando": nu.

"caldo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cuando" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caldoacldo · cadlo · calddo · calldo · calod · ccaldo · clado
  • cuandocaundo · ccuando · cuadno · cuanddo · cuanndo · cuanod · cunado · ucando

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caldo" for "cuando" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caldo" is a noun and "cuando" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caldo" or "cuando"?
"caldo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,677 in our Portuguese list, against #29,659 for "cuando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caldo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,308 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caldo" and "cuando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuando vs cuatro". 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 #22,308 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list