isenção vs isento, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#12,469
“isenção” frequency rank: #21,219
“isento” frequency rank: 33688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	isenção	isento
Definition	que isenta	desobrigado; dispensado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set isenção and isento apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

isenção

6 ch

isento

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: isenção is /i.zẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while isento is /i.ˈzẽ.tu/. 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 33688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

isenção is recorded at frequency rank #12,469, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.zẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. isento is at rank #21,219, tagged as anadj, pronounced /i.ˈzẽ.tu/.

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 33688, this pair ranks #33,747 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of isenção vs isento

Shared letters: einos. Private to "isenção": ãç. Private to "isento": t.

"isenção" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "isento" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

isento ← iesnto · isennto · isenot · isentto · isetno · issento · siento

Frequency comparison

isenção#12,469

isento#21,219

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "isenção" and "isento" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "isenção" or "isento"?

"isenção" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,469 in our Portuguese list, against #21,219 for "isento". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering isenção vs isento

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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