cansadovscantãoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,709
“cansado” frequency rank
#29,259
“cantão” frequency rank
31968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cansado cantão
Definition fatigado região administrativa

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
cansado
6 ch
cantão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cansado is anadjective and cantãoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cansado is recorded at frequency rank #2,709, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ̃.ˈsa.du/. cantão is at rank #29,259, tagged as anoun.

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 31968, this pair ranks #35,961 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cansado vs cantão

Shared letters: acno. Private to "cansado": ds. Private to "cantão": .

"cansado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cantão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cansadoacnsado · canasdo · cannsado · cansaddo · cansaod · cansdao · canssado · casnado

Frequency comparison

cansado#2,709
cantão#29,259

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cansado" and "cantão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cansado" is an adjective and "cantão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cansado" or "cantão"?
"cansado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,709 in our Portuguese list, against #29,259 for "cantão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cansado vs cantão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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