Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.
Quick answer
Cansado describes who feels fatigue; cansativo describes what causes it.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
What each word does
cansado
tired
Use cansado for the state of a person or animal that lacks energy.
cansativo
tiring
Use cansativo for an activity or situation that causes tiredness.
How to choose
- cansado: Choose cansado if the sentence points to the state of a person or animal that lacks energy.
- cansativo: Choose cansativo if the sentence points to an activity or situation that causes tiredness.
Examples
Estou cansado depois da viagem.
I am tired after the trip.
O voo foi longo e cansativo.
The flight was long and tiring.
Common trap
A person can be cansativa when they are wearisome, but to say the person feels tired, use cansada or cansado.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with cansado, then once with cansativo. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.