reaçãovsreduçãoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,864
“reação” frequency rank
#2,394
“redução” frequency rank
4258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reação redução
Definition ação provocada em razão de uma outra anteriormente ocorrida ato ou efeito de reduzir

Where the eye mixes reação and redução

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. reação runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against redução's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
reação
7 ch
redução

Look-alike desk: reação vs redução

A purely visual mix-up. reação (/ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and redução (/Rɨ.du.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reação is recorded at frequency rank #1,864, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. redução is at rank #2,394, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.du.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 4258, this pair ranks #70,708 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reação vs redução

Shared letters: eorãç. Private to "reação": a. Private to "redução": du.

"reação" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "redução" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reação" and "redução" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /Rɨ.du.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "reação" or "redução" show up more?
"reação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,864 in our Portuguese list, against #2,394 for "redução". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "redução" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,708 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reação" and "redução" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reação vs refração". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #70,708 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list