fadavsfodãoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,188
“fada” frequency rank
#37,813
“fodão” frequency rank
48001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fada fodão
Definition entidade imaginária feminina e voadora, com poderes mágicos diz-se de quem fode muito

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fada and fodão apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
fada
5 ch
fodão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fada is /ˈfa.dɐ/ while fodão is /fo.'doŋ/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fada is recorded at frequency rank #10,188, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfa.dɐ/. fodão is at rank #37,813, tagged as anadj, pronounced /fo.'doŋ/.

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 48001, this pair ranks #17,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fada vs fodão

Shared letters: df. Private to "fada": a. Private to "fodão": .

"fada" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fodão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fadaafda · faad · fadda · fdaa · ffada

Frequency comparison

fada#10,188
fodão#37,813

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fada" and "fodão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fada" is a noun and "fodão" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fada" or "fodão"?
"fada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,188 in our Portuguese list, against #37,813 for "fodão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fada vs fodão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list