decisionvsdecisivoTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#41,933
“decision” frequency rank
#8,600
“decisivo” frequency rank
50533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decision decisivo
Definition decisão que decide

Letter map: decision vs decisivo

Shared letters muted; letters that set decision and decisivo apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. decision (CVCVCVVC) and decisivo (CVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
decision
8 ch
decisivo

Part-of-speech tell for decision / decisivo

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decision is anoun and decisivoanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decision is recorded at frequency rank #41,933, classified as anoun. 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 50533, this pair ranks #14,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of decision vs decisivo

Shared letters: cdeios. Private to "decision": n. Private to "decisivo": v.

"decision" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "decisivo" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decision ← dceision · ddecision · deccision · deciison · decisino · decisionn · decisoin · decission
  • decisivo ← dceisivo · ddecisivo · deccisivo · deciisvo · decisiov · decisivvo · decissivo · decisvio

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decision" and "decisivo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decision" is a noun and "decisivo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "decision" vs "decisivo" - which ranks higher?
"decisivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,600 in our Portuguese list, against #41,933 for "decision". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "decision" vs "decisivo" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decision" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decisivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decision" and "decisivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decisão vs decision". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #14,432 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