paláciovspalhaçoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: palácio is a noun, palhaço is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,435
“palácio” frequency rank
#6,455
“palhaço” frequency rank
8890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature palácio palhaço
Definition habitação suntuosa de um soberano ou personagem importante feito de palha

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
palácio
7 ch
palhaço

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: palácio is anoun and palhaçoanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

palácio is recorded at frequency rank #2,435, classified as anoun. palhaço is at rank #6,455, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɐ.ˈʎa.su/.

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 8890, this pair ranks #64,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of palácio vs palhaço

Shared letters: alop. Private to "palácio": ciá. Private to "palhaço": .

"palácio" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "palhaço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequency comparison

palácio#2,435
palhaço#6,455

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "palácio" and "palhaço" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "palácio" is a noun and "palhaço" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "palácio" or "palhaço"?
"palácio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,435 in our Portuguese list, against #6,455 for "palhaço". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering palácio vs palhaço

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “palácio”; for an adjective, it's “palhaço”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “palácio” 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