Which to use
“vaga” and “vão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,456
- “vaga” frequency rank
- #253
- “vão” frequency rank
- 2709
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vaga | vão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | feminino de vago | vazio |
Where the eye mixes vaga and vão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between vaga and vão
A purely visual mix-up. vaga (/ˈva.ɡɐ/) and vão (/ˈvɐ̃w̃/ [ˈvɐ̃ʊ̯̃]) 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 2709, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vaga is recorded at frequency rank #2,456, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈva.ɡɐ/. vão is at rank #253, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈvɐ̃w̃/ [ˈvɐ̃ʊ̯̃].
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 2709, this pair ranks #72,580 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vaga vs vão
Shared letters: v. Private to "vaga": ag. Private to "vão": oã.
"vaga" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vão" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- vaga ← avga · vaag · vagga · vgaa · vvaga
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vaga" and "vão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vaga" or "vão" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "vaga" and "vão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vaga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,580 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vaga" and "vão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vão vs velo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #72,580 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.