inalaçãovsinfraçãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,207
“inalação” frequency rank
#18,620
“infração” frequency rank
48827
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inalação infração
Definition ato ou efeito de inalar ato de ignorar e desprezar as leis e normas traçadas pelo estado para o correto e ordenado comportamento social da população

Where the eye mixes inalação and infração

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. inalação (VCVCVCVV) and infração (VCCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
inalação
8 ch
infração

Why the eye confuses inalação with infração

A purely visual mix-up. inalação (/i.nɐ.lɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and infração (/ĩ.fɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inalação is recorded at frequency rank #30,207, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.nɐ.lɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. infração is at rank #18,620, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ĩ.fɾa.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 48827, this pair ranks #16,302 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of inalação vs infração

Shared letters: ainoãç. Private to "inalação": l. Private to "infração": fr.

"inalação" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVV  ·  "infração" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "inalação" and "infração" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/i.nɐ.lɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /ĩ.fɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "inalação" or "infração" show up more?
"infração" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,620 in our Portuguese list, against #30,207 for "inalação". 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 "inalação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "infração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,302 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inalação" and "infração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inalação vs insolação". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #16,302 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