Which to use
“cão” is an adjective and “chá” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,065
- “cão” frequency rank
- #2,711
- “chá” frequency rank
- 5776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cão | chá |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cruel, brutal, dominador | planta da família das Teáceas, originária do Extremo Oriente, cultivada por causa de suas folhas que contêm um alcalóide, a teína (cafeína do chá) |
Where the eye mixes cão and chá
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cão vs chá
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cão is /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/ while chá is /ˈʃa/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5776, 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/. chá is at rank #2,711, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃa/.
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 5776, this pair ranks #68,776 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cão vs chá
Shared letters: c. Private to "cão": oã. Private to "chá": há.
"cão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "chá" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cão" for "chá" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cão" or "chá"?
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 "chá" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,776 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cão" and "chá" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cão vs chau". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #68,776 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.