iamvsIrãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: iam is a verb, Irão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,823
“iam” frequency rank
#1,785
“Irão” frequency rank
6608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature iam Irão
Definition terceira pessoa do plural do pretérito imperfeito do indicativo do verbo ir país do Oriente Médio, com nome oficial de República Islâmica do Irão, tem fronteiras com a Armênia, Azerbaijão, Turquemenistão, Afeganistão, Paquistão, Iraque e Turquia, é banhado ao norte pelo mar Cáspio, ao sul pelo golfo de Omã e ao sudoeste pelo golfo Pérsico, sua capital é Teerão

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set iam and Irão apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
iam
4 ch
Irão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: iam is averb and Irãoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iam is recorded at frequency rank #4,823, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈi.am/, /ˈi.ɑm/. Irão is at rank #1,785, tagged as anoun.

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 6608, this pair ranks #67,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of iam vs Irão

Shared letters: i. Private to "iam": am. Private to "Irão": orã.

"iam" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "Irão" · 4 letters · shape VCVV

Frequency comparison

iam#4,823
Irão#1,785

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "iam" and "Irão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "iam" is a verb and "Irão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "iam" or "Irão"?
"Irão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,785 in our Portuguese list, against #4,823 for "iam". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering iam vs Irão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “iam”; for a noun, it's “Irão”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “iam” 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