Quick answer
Criança describes age; filho describes a family relationship that continues into adulthood.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
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What each word does
criança
child by age
Use criança for a young person, regardless of family relationship.
filho
son or child in a family
Use filho for someone’s male child, even when he is an adult.
How to choose
- criança: Choose criança if the sentence points to a young person, regardless of family relationship.
- filho: Choose filho if the sentence points to someone’s male child, even when he is an adult.
Examples
A criança está dormindo.
The child is sleeping.
Meu filho tem trinta anos.
My son is thirty years old.
Common trap
A filho is not necessarily a criança, and a criança is not necessarily the speaker’s filho.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with criança, then once with filho. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
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