cansar vs causar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“cansar” and “causar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,270
“cansar” frequency rank: #2,619
“causar” frequency rank: 20889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cansar	causar
Definition	causar cansaço; fatigar	fazer acontecer, ser causa de

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cansar and causar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

cansar

6 ch

causar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cansar (/kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ) and causar (/kaw.ˈzaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “cansar” becomes u in “causar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cansar is recorded at frequency rank #18,270, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ. causar is at rank #2,619, tagged as averb, pronounced /kaw.ˈzaɾ/.

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 20889, this pair ranks #49,518 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cansar vs causar

Shared letters: acrs. Private to "cansar": n. Private to "causar": u.

"cansar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "causar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

cansar ← acnsar · canasr · cannsar · cansarr · cansra · canssar · casnar · ccansar
causar ← casuar · cauasr · causarr · causra · caussar · ccausar · cuasar

Frequency comparison

cansar#18,270

causar#2,619

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cansar" and "causar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ versus /kaw.ˈzaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "cansar" or "causar"?

"causar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,619 in our Portuguese list, against #18,270 for "cansar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cansar vs causar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cansar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable