decisãovsdecisivoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: decisão is a noun, decisivo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decisão” is a noun and “decisivo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#669
“decisão” frequency rank
#8,600
“decisivo” frequency rank
9269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decisão decisivo
Definition ação ou resultado de decidir que decide

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set decisão and decisivo apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
decisão
8 ch
decisivo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

decisão and decisivo form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decisão is recorded at frequency rank #669, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. decisivo is at rank #8,600, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɨ.si.ˈzi.vu/.

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 9269, this pair ranks #64,218 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

decisão#669
decisivo#8,600

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decisão" and "decisivo" be used interchangeably?
No, "decisão" and "decisivo" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering decisão vs decisivo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “decisão”; for an adjective, it's “decisivo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “decisão” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list