começar
The verdict
“começar” is in the everyday core of Portuguese, ranked #501 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a verb.
- #501
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
Dominant Wiktionary sense: dar início a alguma coisa
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | começar |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ku.mɨ.ˈsaɾ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #501 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “começar” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for começar is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ku.mɨ.ˈsaɾ/. Corpus data places it at rank #501 in overall Portuguese word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for começar, with forms such as "ccomeçar", "cmoeçar", and "coemçar". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "comer", "cometa", "comprar", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct Portuguese form is começar, spelled C-O-M-E-Ç-A-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1dar início a alguma coisa
- 2ter começo ou princípio
- 3começar sob determinada condição ou situação, modo de ser
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccomeçar,cmoeçar,coemçar,comeaçr,começarr,começra,commeçar,comçear,ocmeçar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of começar — measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Edit distance from "começar"
Frequency rank: #501 in Portuguese
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “começar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is C-O-M-E-Ç-A-R — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ku.mɨ.ˈsaɾ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “comer” — see the side-by-side comparison. começar vs comer
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Nearby Portuguese words
Other entries that begin with the letter C in our Portuguese index: