ensaio vs então, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ensaio” is a noun and “então” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,472
“ensaio” frequency rank: #120
“então” frequency rank: 3592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ensaio	então
Definition	meio empregado para testar se algo convém ao fim a que se destina	naquele momento

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ensaio and então apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

ensaio

5 ch

então

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ensaio is /ẽ.ˈsaj.u/ while então is /ẽ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ensaio is recorded at frequency rank #3,472, classified as anoun, pronounced /ẽ.ˈsaj.u/. então is at rank #120, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ẽ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.

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 3592, this pair ranks #71,522 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ensaio vs então

Shared letters: eno. Private to "ensaio": ais. Private to "então": tã.

"ensaio" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "então" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

ensaio ← enasio · ennsaio · ensaoi · ensiao · enssaio · esnaio · nesaio

Frequency comparison

ensaio#3,472

então#120

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ensaio" and "então" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ensaio" is a noun and "então" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ensaio" or "então"?

"então" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #120 in our Portuguese list, against #3,472 for "ensaio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ensaio vs então

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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