Which to use
“detecção” and “detenção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,853
- “detecção” frequency rank
- #7,756
- “detenção” frequency rank
- 19609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | detecção | detenção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de detectar | ato de deter |
Letter map: detecção vs detenção
Shared letters muted; letters that set detecção and detenção apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. detecção and detenção follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Pair insight - detecção / detenção
detecção and detenção 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 a single letter - c in “detecção” becomes n in “detenção”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
detecção is recorded at frequency rank #11,853, classified as anoun. detenção is at rank #7,756, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.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 19609, this pair ranks #51,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of detecção vs detenção
Shared letters: deotãç. Private to "detecção": c. Private to "detenção": n.
"detecção" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "detenção" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "detecção" for "detenção" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "detecção" or "detenção" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "detecção" and "detenção". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "detecção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "detenção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "detecção" and "detenção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deserção vs detecção". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #51,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.