alcançarvsavançarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“alcançar” and “avançar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,214
“alcançar” frequency rank
#4,291
“avançar” frequency rank
6505
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcançar avançar
Definition chegar a algum lugar ou ponto andar para a frente

Letter map: alcançar vs avançar

Shared letters muted; letters that set alcançar and avançar apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. alcançar runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against avançar's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
alcançar
7 ch
avançar

Spelling & dictionary notes on alcançar vs avançar

alcançar and avançar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6505, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcançar is recorded at frequency rank #2,214, classified as averb, pronounced /aɫ.kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ/. avançar is at rank #4,291, tagged as averb.

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 6505, this pair ranks #67,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alcançar vs avançar

Shared letters: anrç. Private to "alcançar": cl. Private to "avançar": v.

"alcançar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "avançar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alcançar" and "avançar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "alcançar" or "avançar"?
"alcançar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,214 in our Portuguese list, against #4,291 for "avançar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "alcançar" vs "avançar" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcançar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avançar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcançar" and "avançar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abarcar vs avançar". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #67,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list