operação vs operário, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,081
“operação” frequency rank: #11,692
“operário” frequency rank: 12773
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	operação	operário
Definition	ato no qual se obtém um número a partir de outros dois	que diz respeito ao operariado:

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch

operação

8 ch

operário

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: operação is anoun and operárioanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12773, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

operação is recorded at frequency rank #1,081, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɔ.pɨ.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. operário is at rank #11,692, tagged as anadj.

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 12773, this pair ranks #59,709 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of operação vs operário

Shared letters: eopr. Private to "operação": aãç. Private to "operário": iá.

"operação" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVV · "operário" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

operação#1,081

operário#11,692

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "operação" and "operário" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "operação" or "operário"?

"operação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,081 in our Portuguese list, against #11,692 for "operário". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering operação vs operário

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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