vão vs vós, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#253
“vão” frequency rank: #6,014
“vós” frequency rank: 6267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vão	vós
Definition	vazio	usado para indicar as pessoas a quem se fala

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vão and vós apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

vão

3 ch

vós

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vão is /ˈvɐ̃w̃/ [ˈvɐ̃ʊ̯̃] while vós is [vɔʃ], [vɔs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6267, 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]. vós is at rank #6,014, tagged as apron, pronounced [vɔʃ], [vɔs].

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 6267, this pair ranks #68,191 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vão vs vós

Shared letters: v. Private to "vão": oã. Private to "vós": só.

"vão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "vós" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

vão#253

vós#6,014

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

Which is more common, "vão" or "vós"?

"vão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #253 in our Portuguese list, against #6,014 for "vós". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vão vs vós

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vão”; for a pronoun, it's “vós”.
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