cagarvscansarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,037
“cagar” frequency rank
#18,270
“cansar” frequency rank
33307
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cagar cansar
Definition expelir pelo ânus; defecar causar cansaço; fatigar

Where the eye mixes cagar and cansar

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

5 ch
cagar
6 ch
cansar

Visual trap between cagar and cansar

A purely visual mix-up. cagar (/kɐ'ɣaɾ/) and cansar (/kɐ̃.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 33307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cagar is recorded at frequency rank #15,037, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ'ɣaɾ/. cansar is at rank #18,270, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɐ̃.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 33307, this pair ranks #34,241 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cagar vs cansar

Shared letters: acr. Private to "cagar": g. Private to "cansar": ns.

"cagar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cansar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cagar ← acgar · caagr · cagarr · caggar · ccagar · cgaar
  • cansar ← acnsar · canasr · cannsar · cansarr · cansra · canssar · casnar · ccansar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cagar" for "cansar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ'ɣaɾ/ versus /kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cagar" or "cansar"?
"cagar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,037 in our Portuguese list, against #18,270 for "cansar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cagar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cansar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,241 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cagar" and "cansar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cagar vs coagir". 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 #34,241 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