pagãovspavãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pagão is a adjective, pavão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#28,306
“pagão” frequency rank
#19,519
“pavão” frequency rank
47825
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagão pavão
Definition diz-se de pessoa não batizada pendão, flor masculina do milho

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pagão and pavão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pagão
5 ch
pavão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pagão is anadjective and pavãoanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - g in “pagão” becomes v in “pavão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47825, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagão is recorded at frequency rank #28,306, classified as anadj. pavão is at rank #19,519, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pa.'boŋ/.

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 47825, this pair ranks #17,394 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pagão vs pavão

Shared letters: aopã. Private to "pagão": g. Private to "pavão": v.

"pagão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "pavão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

pagão#28,306
pavão#19,519

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pagão" and "pavão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pagão" is an adjective and "pavão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pagão" or "pavão"?
"pavão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,519 in our Portuguese list, against #28,306 for "pagão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pagão vs pavão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pagão”; for a noun, it's “pavão”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pagão” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list