traçãovstravãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,629
“tração” frequency rank
#47,127
“travão” frequency rank
60756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tração travão
Definition força aplicada sobre um corpo numa direção perpendicular à sua superfície de corte e num sentido tal que provoque a sua rotura alavanca que detém o movimento de uma máquina

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tração and travão apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
tração
6 ch
travão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tração (/tɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and travão (/tɾa.'boŋ/) 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 a single letter - ç in “tração” becomes v in “travão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tração is recorded at frequency rank #13,629, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. travão is at rank #47,127, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɾa.'boŋ/.

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 60756, this pair ranks #7,493 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tração vs travão

Shared letters: aortã. Private to "tração": ç. Private to "travão": v.

"tração" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "travão" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Frequency comparison

tração#13,629
travão#47,127

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tração" and "travão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/tɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /tɾa.'boŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tração" or "travão"?
"tração" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,629 in our Portuguese list, against #47,127 for "travão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tração vs travão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tração” 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