sacanavssanaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,173
“sacana” frequency rank
#30,345
“sana” frequency rank
63518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sacana sana
Definition diz-se daquele que comete atos reprováveis feminino de sano

Where the eye mixes sacana and sana

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sacana runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against sana's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
sacana
4 ch
sana

Look-alike desk: sacana vs sana

A purely visual mix-up. sacana (/sɐ.ˈkɐ.nɐ/) and sana (/ˈsã.nɐ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sacana is recorded at frequency rank #33,173, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɐ.ˈkɐ.nɐ/. sana is at rank #30,345, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsã.nɐ/.

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 63518, this pair ranks #6,155 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sacana vs sana

Shared letters: ans. Private to "sacana": c. Private to "sana": -.

"sacana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "sana" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sacana ← ascana · saacna · sacaan · sacanna · saccana · sacnaa · scaana · ssacana
  • sana ← asna · saan · sanna · snaa · ssana

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sacana" and "sana" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/sɐ.ˈkɐ.nɐ/ versus /ˈsã.nɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sacana" or "sana"?
"sana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,345 in our Portuguese list, against #33,173 for "sacana". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sacana" and "sana" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sacana" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sana" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,155 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sacana" and "sana" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sana vs Sau". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #6,155 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