trapovstravãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,367
“trapo” frequency rank
#47,127
“travão” frequency rank
87494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trapo travão
Definition pedaço de pano velho ou usado alavanca que detém o movimento de uma máquina

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set trapo and travão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
trapo
6 ch
travão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. trapo (/ˈtɾa.pu/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trapo is recorded at frequency rank #40,367, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɾa.pu/. 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 87494, this pair ranks #486 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of trapo vs travão

Shared letters: aort. Private to "trapo": p. Private to "travão": .

"trapo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "travão" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • traportapo · tarpo · traop · trappo · trpao · trrapo · ttrapo

Frequency comparison

trapo#40,367
travão#47,127

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trapo" and "travão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtɾa.pu/ versus /tɾa.'boŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "trapo" or "travão"?
"trapo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,367 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 trapo 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 “trapo” 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