descontar vs desconto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“descontar” is a verb and “desconto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,272
“descontar” frequency rank: #5,726
“desconto” frequency rank: 27998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	descontar	desconto
Definition	fazer desconto	ato ou efeito de descontar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set descontar and desconto apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

descontar

8 ch

desconto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: descontar is /dɨʃ.kõ.ˈtaɾ/ while desconto is /dɨʃ.ˈkõ.tu/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descontar is recorded at frequency rank #22,272, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.kõ.ˈtaɾ/. desconto is at rank #5,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈkõ.tu/.

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 27998, this pair ranks #40,882 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descontar vs desconto

Shared letters: cdenost. Private to "descontar": ar. Private to "desconto": -.

"descontar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "desconto" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

descontar ← ddescontar · decsontar · desccontar · descnotar · desconatr · desconntar · descontarr · descontra
desconto ← ddesconto · decsonto · descconto · descnoto · desconnto · desconot · descontto · descotno

Frequency comparison

descontar#22,272

desconto#5,726

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descontar" and "desconto" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "descontar" is a verb and "desconto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "descontar" or "desconto"?

"desconto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,726 in our Portuguese list, against #22,272 for "descontar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering descontar vs desconto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “descontar”; for a noun, it's “desconto”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “descontar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable