Which to use
“condenação” and “contenção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,721
- “condenação” frequency rank
- #11,239
- “contenção” frequency rank
- 16960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | condenação | contenção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de condenar | ato ou efeito de conter, de controlar ou de reprimir |
Where the eye mixes condenação and contenção
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. condenação runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCVV) against contenção's 9 (CVCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses condenação with contenção
A purely visual mix-up. condenação (/kõ.dɨ.nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and contenção (/kõ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
condenação is recorded at frequency rank #5,721, classified as anoun, pronounced /kõ.dɨ.nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. contenção is at rank #11,239, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kõ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 16960, this pair ranks #54,416 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of condenação vs contenção
Shared letters: cenoãç. Private to "condenação": ad. Private to "contenção": t.
"condenação" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVV · "contenção" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "condenação" for "contenção" ever safe?
Frequency check: "condenação" vs "contenção" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "condenação" and "contenção" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "condenação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contenção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,416 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "condenação" and "contenção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contenção vs contenda". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #54,416 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.