vão vs voo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“vão” is an adjective and “voo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#253
“vão” frequency rank: #3,051
“voo” frequency rank: 3304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vão	voo
Definition	vazio	ato ou efeito de voar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vão and voo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

vão

3 ch

voo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vão is /ˈvɐ̃w̃/ [ˈvɐ̃ʊ̯̃] while voo is /ˈvo.u/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - ã in “vão” becomes o in “voo”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3304, 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]. voo is at rank #3,051, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvo.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 3304, this pair ranks #71,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vão vs voo

Shared letters: ov. Private to "vão": ã. Private to "voo": -.

"vão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "voo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

vão#253

voo#3,051

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vão" and "voo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vão" is an adjective and "voo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "vão" or "voo"?

"vão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #253 in our Portuguese list, against #3,051 for "voo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vão vs voo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vão”; for a noun, it's “voo”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vão” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable