Which to use
“cão” is an adjective and “com” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,065
- “cão” frequency rank
- #14
- “com” frequency rank
- 3079
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cão | com |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cruel, brutal, dominador | indica várias relações: companhia, causa, instrumento, ligação, modo, oposição |
Where the eye mixes cão and com
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cão and com
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cão is /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/ while com is /kõ/. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3079, 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/. com is at rank #14, tagged as aprep, pronounced /kõ/.
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 3079, this pair ranks #72,139 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cão vs com
Shared letters: co. Private to "cão": ã. Private to "com": m.
"cão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "com" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cão" for "com" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cão" or "com" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "com" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,139 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cão" and "com" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cão vs chau". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #72,139 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.