Which to use
“alce” and “anca” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,754
- “alce” frequency rank
- #40,417
- “anca” frequency rank
- 89171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alce | anca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mamífero artiodáctilo da família dos cervídeos (Alces alces), que ocorre nas regiões frias ao norte do hemisfério norte; de pelagem escura, ponta do focinho larga e arqueada e grande galhada espalmada, com numerosas pontas, presente somente nos machos [É o maior dos cervídeos, alcançando até 3 m de comprimento.] | proeminência superior das coxas |
Where the eye mixes alce and anca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. alce and anca follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: alce vs anca
A purely visual mix-up. alce (/ˈaɫ.sɨ/) and anca (/ˈɐ̃.kɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alce is recorded at frequency rank #48,754, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɫ.sɨ/. anca is at rank #40,417, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɐ̃.kɐ/.
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 89171, this pair ranks #343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alce vs anca
Shared letters: ac. Private to "alce": el. Private to "anca": n.
"alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "anca" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alce" and "anca" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "alce" or "anca"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "alce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alce" and "anca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs alce". 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 #343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.