pecavspicarConfusable pair

Quick tell: peca is a noun, picar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“peca” is a noun and “picar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,209
“peca” frequency rank
#18,348
“picar” frequency rank
54557
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peca picar
Definition Pequeña mancha de melanina en la piel. Golpear algo con una punta, agujereándolo o no.

Where the eye mixes peca and picar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
peca
5 ch
picar

Why the eye confuses peca with picar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: peca is [ˈpeka] while picar is [piˈkaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peca is recorded at frequency rank #36,209, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpeka]. picar is at rank #18,348, tagged as averb, pronounced [piˈkaɾ].

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 54557, this pair ranks #82,795 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of peca vs picar

Shared letters: acp. Private to "peca": e. Private to "picar": ir.

"peca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pecaepca · pcea · peac · pecca · ppeca
  • picaripcar · pciar · piacr · picarr · piccar · picra · ppicar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "peca" and "picar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "peca" is a noun and "picar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "peca" or "picar"?
"picar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,348 in our Spanish list, against #36,209 for "peca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "peca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "picar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #82,795 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "peca" and "picar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peca vs PRC". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #82,795 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list