precisãovsprecisoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,230
“precisão” frequency rank
#252
“preciso” frequency rank
6482
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature precisão preciso
Definition ato ou efeito de precisar, ter necessidade ou carência de algo: necessário, importante:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set precisão and preciso apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
precisão
7 ch
preciso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: precisão is anoun and precisoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

precisão is recorded at frequency rank #6,230, classified as anoun. preciso is at rank #252, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɾɨ.ˈsi.zu/.

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 6482, this pair ranks #67,944 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of precisão vs preciso

Shared letters: ceioprs. Private to "precisão": ã. Private to "preciso": -.

"precisão" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "preciso" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • precisoperciso · ppreciso · prceiso · precciso · precios · precisso · precsio · preicso

Frequency comparison

precisão#6,230
preciso#252

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "precisão" and "preciso" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "precisão" is a noun and "preciso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "precisão" or "preciso"?
"preciso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #252 in our Portuguese list, against #6,230 for "precisão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering precisão vs preciso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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