Which to use
“caber” is a verb and “câncer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,454
- “caber” frequency rank
- #1,607
- “câncer” frequency rank
- 19061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caber | câncer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | poder ser contido em | doença caracterizada por rápida multiplicação celular irrefreada de uma célula que teve seu ADN danosamente modificado |
Where the eye mixes caber and câncer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caber runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against câncer's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: caber vs câncer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caber is /kɐ.ˈbeɾ/ while câncer is /ˈkɐ̃.sɛɾ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caber is recorded at frequency rank #17,454, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbeɾ/. câncer is at rank #1,607, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɐ̃.sɛɾ/.
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 19061, this pair ranks #51,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caber vs câncer
Shared letters: cer. Private to "caber": ab. Private to "câncer": nâ.
"caber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "câncer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- caber ← acber · cabber · caberr · cabre · caebr · cbaer · ccaber
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caber" and "câncer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "caber" or "câncer" show up more?
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 "caber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "câncer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caber" and "câncer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caber vs camel". 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 #51,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.