quanto vs quão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“quanto” is a pronoun and “quão” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#216
“quanto” frequency rank: #2,849
“quão” frequency rank: 3065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	quanto	quão
Definition	qual quantidade, qual valor	exprime intensidade: quanto, como

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quanto and quão apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

quanto

4 ch

quão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: quanto is apronoun and quãoanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quanto is recorded at frequency rank #216, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈkwɐ̃.tu/. quão is at rank #2,849, tagged as anadv.

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 3065, this pair ranks #72,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quanto vs quão

Shared letters: oqu. Private to "quanto": ant. Private to "quão": ã.

"quanto" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "quão" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

quanto ← qaunto · qquanto · quannto · quanot · quantto · quatno · qunato · uqanto

Frequency comparison

quanto#216

quão#2,849

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quanto" and "quão" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quanto" is a pronoun and "quão" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "quanto" or "quão"?

"quanto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #216 in our Portuguese list, against #2,849 for "quão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering quanto vs quão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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