dragãovsduraçãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,634
“dragão” frequency rank
#3,323
“duração” frequency rank
7957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dragão duração
Definition monstro mitológico baseado em uma serpente ou lagarto, alado e que expele fogo pela boca intervalo de tempo que uma coisa dura

Where the eye mixes dragão and duração

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dragão runs 6 letters (CCVCVV) against duração's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
dragão
7 ch
duração

Visual trap between dragão and duração

A purely visual mix-up. dragão (/dɾɐ.ˈgãw/) and duração (/du.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dragão is recorded at frequency rank #4,634, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɾɐ.ˈgãw/. duração is at rank #3,323, tagged as anoun, pronounced /du.ɾɐ.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 7957, this pair ranks #66,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dragão vs duração

Shared letters: adorã. Private to "dragão": g. Private to "duração": uç.

"dragão" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "duração" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dragão" and "duração" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/dɾɐ.ˈgãw/ versus /du.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dragão" vs "duração" - which ranks higher?
"duração" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,323 in our Portuguese list, against #4,634 for "dragão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dragão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dragão" and "duração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dragão vs drogo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #66,002 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