tangvsthanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tang is a noun, than is a conjunction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tang” is a noun and “than” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,314
“tang” frequency rank
#13,187
“than” frequency rank
34501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tang than
Definition sabor forte, penetrante (geralmente de origem externa) que (usado em comparações)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tang and than apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tang
4 ch
than

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tang is anoun and thanaconjunction. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tang is recorded at frequency rank #21,314, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtæŋ/. than is at rank #13,187, tagged as aconj.

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 34501, this pair ranks #32,745 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tang vs than

Shared letters: ant. Private to "tang": g. Private to "than": h.

"tang" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "than" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tangatng · tagn · tangg · tanng · tnag · ttang
  • thanhtan · tahn · thann · thhan · thna · tthan

Frequency comparison

tang#21,314
than#13,187

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tang" and "than" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tang" is a noun and "than" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tang" or "than"?
"than" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,187 in our Portuguese list, against #21,314 for "tang". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tang vs than

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tang”; for a conjunction, it's “than”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tang” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list