testarvstostãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: testar is a verb, tostão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“testar” is a verb and “tostão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,046
“testar” frequency rank
#27,305
“tostão” frequency rank
32351
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature testar tostão
Definition deixar em testamento fazer o testamento, testemunhar antiga moeda de níquel de cem réis

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
testar
6 ch
tostão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: testar is /tɨʃ.ˈtaɾ/ while tostão is /tuʃ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

testar is recorded at frequency rank #5,046, classified as averb, pronounced /tɨʃ.ˈtaɾ/. tostão is at rank #27,305, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tuʃ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.

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 32351, this pair ranks #35,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of testar vs tostão

Shared letters: st. Private to "testar": aer. Private to "tostão": .

"testar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tostão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • testaretstar · tesatr · tesstar · testarr · testra · testtar · tetsar · tsetar

Frequency comparison

testar#5,046
tostão#27,305

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "testar" and "tostão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "testar" is a verb and "tostão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "testar" or "tostão"?
"testar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,046 in our Portuguese list, against #27,305 for "tostão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering testar vs tostão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “testar”; for a noun, it's “tostão”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “testar” 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