caçarvscassarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,115
“caçar” frequency rank
#34,183
“cassar” frequency rank
41298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caçar cassar
Definition perseguir uma presa e, usualmente, matá-la impedir que produza efeitos, anular, revogar (direitos políticos, mandatos, licenças, etc.):

Where the eye mixes caçar and cassar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. caçar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against cassar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
caçar
6 ch
cassar

Why the eye confuses caçar with cassar

A purely visual mix-up. caçar (/kɐ.ˈsaɾ/) and cassar (/ka.ˈsaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caçar is recorded at frequency rank #7,115, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ.ˈsaɾ/. cassar is at rank #34,183, tagged as averb, pronounced /ka.ˈsaɾ/.

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 41298, this pair ranks #24,646 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caçar vs cassar

Shared letters: acr. Private to "caçar": ç. Private to "cassar": s.

"caçar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cassar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cassar ← acssar · casar · casasr · cassarr · cassra · ccassar · csasar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caçar" and "cassar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈsaɾ/ versus /ka.ˈsaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caçar" or "cassar"?
"caçar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,115 in our Portuguese list, against #34,183 for "cassar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "caçar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cassar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,646 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caçar" and "cassar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cassada vs cassar". 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 #24,646 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