ração vs razão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#15,189
“ração” frequency rank: #793
“razão” frequency rank: 15982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ração	razão
Definition	porção fixa de provisões, especialmente para soldados e marinheiros ou para civis em tempos de escassez	faculdade de avaliar, julgar, ponderar ideias, raciocinar, inteligir

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

ração

5 ch

razão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ração (/Rɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and razão (/χa.ˈzãw/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - ç in “ração” becomes z in “razão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15982, 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/. razão is at rank #793, tagged as anoun, pronounced /χa.ˈzãw/.

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 15982, this pair ranks #55,704 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ração vs razão

Shared letters: aorã. Private to "ração": ç. Private to "razão": z.

"ração" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "razão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

ração#15,189

razão#793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No. They are said differently (/Rɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /χa.ˈzãw/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

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

"razão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #793 in our Portuguese list, against #15,189 for "ração". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ração vs razão

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