plantãovsplataWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,939
“plantão” frequency rank
#27,976
“plata” frequency rank
36915
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature plantão plata
Definition serviço policial, distribuído diariamente a um soldado, dentro da própria caserna, companhia ou bataria que possui a cor do respectivo metal

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
plantão
5 ch
plata

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: plantão is /plɐ̃.ˈtɐ̃w̃/ while plata is /ˈplata/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 36915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

plantão is recorded at frequency rank #8,939, classified as anoun, pronounced /plɐ̃.ˈtɐ̃w̃/. plata is at rank #27,976, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈplata/.

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 36915, this pair ranks #29,796 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of plantão vs plata

Shared letters: alpt. Private to "plantão": noã. Private to "plata": -.

"plantão" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVV  ·  "plata" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • platalpata · palta · plaat · platta · pllata · pltaa · pplata

Frequency comparison

plantão#8,939
plata#27,976

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "plantão" and "plata" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "plantão" is a noun and "plata" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "plantão" or "plata"?
"plantão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,939 in our Portuguese list, against #27,976 for "plata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering plantão vs plata

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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