vagovsvastoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,858
“vago” frequency rank
#8,553
“vasto” frequency rank
22411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vago vasto
Definition sem um sentido bem definido de grande extensão

Where the eye mixes vago and vasto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vago runs 4 letters (CVCV) against vasto's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
vago
5 ch
vasto

Why the eye confuses vago with vasto

A purely visual mix-up. vago (/ˈva.ɡu/) and vasto (/ˈvaʃ.tu/) 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 22411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vago is recorded at frequency rank #13,858, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈva.ɡu/. vasto is at rank #8,553, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈvaʃ.tu/.

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 22411, this pair ranks #47,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vago vs vasto

Shared letters: aov. Private to "vago": g. Private to "vasto": st.

"vago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vasto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vago ← avgo · vaggo · vaog · vgao · vvago
  • vasto ← avsto · vasot · vassto · vastto · vatso · vsato · vvasto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vago" and "vasto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈva.ɡu/ versus /ˈvaʃ.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vago" or "vasto" show up more?
"vasto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,553 in our Portuguese list, against #13,858 for "vago". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vasto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vago" and "vasto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vago 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 #47,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list