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
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.
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.
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.