tãovstiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tão is a adverb, ti is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tão” is an adverb and “ti” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#119
“tão” frequency rank
#779
“ti” frequency rank
898
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tão ti
Definition tanto, com tal intensidade que diz respeito à tua pessoa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tão and ti apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
tão
2 ch
ti

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tão is /ˈtɐ̃w̃/ while ti is /ˈti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 898, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tão is recorded at frequency rank #119, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈtɐ̃w̃/. ti is at rank #779, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈti/.

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 898, this pair ranks #74,731 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tão vs ti

Shared letters: t. Private to "tão": . Private to "ti": i.

"tão" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "ti" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

tão#119
ti#779

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tão" and "ti" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tão" is an adverb and "ti" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tão" or "ti"?
"tão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #119 in our Portuguese list, against #779 for "ti". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tão vs ti

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “tão”; for a pronoun, it's “ti”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tão” 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