Which to use
“cão” is an adjective and “capô” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,065
- “cão” frequency rank
- #31,676
- “capô” frequency rank
- 34741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cão | capô |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cruel, brutal, dominador | cobertura que protege o motor de um veículo |
Where the eye mixes cão and capô
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cão with capô
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cão is /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/ while capô is /ka.ˈpo/. 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 34741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cão is recorded at frequency rank #3,065, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/. capô is at rank #31,676, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ka.ˈpo/.
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 34741, this pair ranks #32,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cão vs capô
Shared letters: c. Private to "cão": oã. Private to "capô": apô.
"cão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "capô" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cão" for "capô" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cão" or "capô" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "capô" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #32,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cão" and "capô" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capô vs ciao". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #32,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.