Which to use
“ligação” is a noun and “ligado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,435
- “ligação” frequency rank
- #2,239
- “ligado” frequency rank
- 3674
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ligação | ligado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de ligar | que está conectado a outra parte; unido |
Where the eye mixes ligação and ligado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ligação runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against ligado's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ligação vs ligado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ligação is /li.ɡɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while ligado is /li.ˈɡa.du/. 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 3674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ligação is recorded at frequency rank #1,435, classified as anoun, pronounced /li.ɡɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. ligado is at rank #2,239, tagged as anadj, pronounced /li.ˈɡa.du/.
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 3674, this pair ranks #71,422 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ligação vs ligado
Shared letters: agilo. Private to "ligação": ãç. Private to "ligado": d.
"ligação" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "ligado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ligado ← ilgado · lgiado · liagdo · ligaddo · ligaod · ligdao · liggado · lligado
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ligação" for "ligado" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ligação" vs "ligado" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ligação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ligado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,422 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ligação" and "ligado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ligado vs lixado". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #71,422 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.