casovscésioWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: caso is a conjunction, césio is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caso” is a conjunction and “césio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#181
“caso” frequency rank
#41,427
“césio” frequency rank
41608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caso césio
Definition na hipótese de; se elemento químico de símbolo Cs, possui o número atômico 55 e massa atômica relativa 132,905 u; é um metal alcalino, de coloração ouro prateado; é encontrado em minerais de potássio, tais como micas, berílio, feldspatos e a polucita (alumínio-silicato de césio); o césio metálico é utilizado na fabricação de células fotoelétricas e detectores de infravermelho

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caso and césio apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
caso
5 ch
césio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caso is /ˈka.zu/ while césio is /ˈsɛzju/. 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 (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caso is recorded at frequency rank #181, classified as aconj, pronounced /ˈka.zu/. césio is at rank #41,427, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛzju/.

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 41608, this pair ranks #24,289 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caso vs césio

Shared letters: cos. Private to "caso": a. Private to "césio": .

"caso" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "césio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • casoacso · casso · ccaso · csao

Frequency comparison

caso#181
césio#41,427

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caso" and "césio" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caso" is a conjunction and "césio" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caso" or "césio"?
"caso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #181 in our Portuguese list, against #41,427 for "césio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering caso vs césio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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