rácio vs razão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#39,370
“rácio” frequency rank: #793
“razão” frequency rank: 40163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	rácio	razão
Definition	relação	faculdade de avaliar, julgar, ponderar ideias, raciocinar, inteligir

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

rácio

5 ch

razão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

rácio and razão 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 40163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rácio is recorded at frequency rank #39,370, classified as anoun. 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 40163, this pair ranks #26,004 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rácio vs razão

Shared letters: or. Private to "rácio": ciá. Private to "razão": azã.

"rácio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "razão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

rácio#39,370

razão#793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rácio" and "razão" 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, "rácio" or "razão"?

"razão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #793 in our Portuguese list, against #39,370 for "rácio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering rácio 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 “rácio” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable