ração vs rácio, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ração” and “rácio” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,189
“ração” frequency rank: #39,370
“rácio” frequency rank: 54559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ração	rácio
Definition	porção fixa de provisões, especialmente para soldados e marinheiros ou para civis em tempos de escassez	relação

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ração and rácio apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

ração

5 ch

rácio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ração and rácio are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ração is recorded at frequency rank #15,189, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. rácio is at rank #39,370, tagged as anoun.

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 54559, this pair ranks #11,182 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ração vs rácio

Shared letters: or. Private to "ração": aãç. Private to "rácio": ciá.

"ração" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "rácio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

ração#15,189

rácio#39,370

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ração" and "rácio" be used interchangeably?

No. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "ração" or "rácio"?

"ração" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,189 in our Portuguese list, against #39,370 for "rácio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ração vs rácio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ração” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable