Which to use
“vão” and “vazio” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #253
- “vão” frequency rank
- #2,811
- “vazio” frequency rank
- 3064
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vão | vazio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vazio | que não contém nada; que não está com seu conteúdo habitual |
Where the eye mixes vão and vazio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vão with vazio
A purely visual mix-up. vão (/ˈvɐ̃w̃/ [ˈvɐ̃ʊ̯̃]) and vazio (/vɐ.ˈzi.u/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vão is recorded at frequency rank #253, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈvɐ̃w̃/ [ˈvɐ̃ʊ̯̃]. vazio is at rank #2,811, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vɐ.ˈzi.u/.
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 3064, this pair ranks #72,159 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vão vs vazio
Shared letters: ov. Private to "vão": ã. Private to "vazio": aiz.
"vão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "vazio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- vazio ← avzio · vaizo · vazoi · vazzio · vvazio · vzaio
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vão" and "vazio" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "vão" or "vazio"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vazio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,159 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vão" and "vazio" 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 #72,159 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.