cairvscárieWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cair is a verb, cárie is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cair” is a verb and “cárie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,522
“cair” frequency rank
#40,971
“cárie” frequency rank
42493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cair cárie
Definition dar queda ulceração nos dentes e ossos, que os destrói progressivamente

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cair and cárie apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cair
5 ch
cárie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cair is averb and cárieanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cair is recorded at frequency rank #1,522, classified as averb. cárie is at rank #40,971, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.ɾji/.

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 42493, this pair ranks #23,288 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cair vs cárie

Shared letters: cir. Private to "cair": a. Private to "cárie": .

"cair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "cárie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cairacir · cairr · cari · ccair · ciar

Frequency comparison

cair#1,522
cárie#40,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cair" and "cárie" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cair" is a verb and "cárie" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cair" or "cárie"?
"cair" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,522 in our Portuguese list, against #40,971 for "cárie". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cair vs cárie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “cair”; for a noun, it's “cárie”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cair” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list