contraçãovscoraçãoConfusable pair

Which to use

“contração” and “coração” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,812
“contração” frequency rank
#489
“coração” frequency rank
19301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contração coração
Definition ato ou efeito de contrair órgão muscular que bombeia o sangue de certos animais

Letter map: contração vs coração

Shared letters muted; letters that set contração and coração apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. contração runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVV) against coração's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
contração
7 ch
coração

Corpus notes: contração and coração

contração and coração are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contração is recorded at frequency rank #18,812, classified as anoun, pronounced /kõ.tɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. coração is at rank #489, tagged as anoun.

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 19301, this pair ranks #51,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contração vs coração

Shared letters: acorãç. Private to "contração": nt. Private to "coração": -.

"contração" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV  ·  "coração" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contração" for "coração" ever safe?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "contração" vs "coração" - which ranks higher?
"coração" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #489 in our Portuguese list, against #18,812 for "contração". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've compared "contração" and "coração". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contração" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contração" and "coração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contração vs cotação". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #51,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list