quantovsquatroWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quanto is a pronoun, quatro is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#216
“quanto” frequency rank
#353
“quatro” frequency rank
569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quanto quatro
Definition qual quantidade, qual valor o número quatro (4, IV)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quanto and quatro apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
quanto
6 ch
quatro

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quanto is /ˈkwɐ̃.tu/ while quatro is /ˈkwa.tɾu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 569, 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/. quatro is at rank #353, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkwa.tɾu/.

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 569, this pair ranks #75,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quanto vs quatro

Shared letters: aoqtu. Private to "quanto": n. Private to "quatro": r.

"quanto" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "quatro" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quantoqaunto · qquanto · quannto · quanot · quantto · quatno · qunato · uqanto
  • quatroqautro · qquatro · quator · quatrro · quattro · qutaro · uqatro

Frequency comparison

quanto#216
quatro#353

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quanto" and "quatro" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quanto" is a pronoun and "quatro" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quanto" or "quatro"?
"quanto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #216 in our Portuguese list, against #353 for "quatro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quanto vs quatro

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “quanto”; for a noun, it's “quatro”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list