Which to use
“calçar” and “cercar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,677
- “calçar” frequency rank
- #25,230
- “cercar” frequency rank
- 62907
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calçar | cercar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | transitivo | pôr cerco a, sitiar |
Where the eye mixes calçar and cercar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. calçar and cercar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between calçar and cercar
A purely visual mix-up. calçar (/kaɫ.ˈsaɾ/) and cercar (/sɨɾ.ˈkaɾ/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calçar is recorded at frequency rank #37,677, classified as averb, pronounced /kaɫ.ˈsaɾ/. cercar is at rank #25,230, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈkaɾ/.
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 62907, this pair ranks #6,448 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of calçar vs cercar
Shared letters: acr. Private to "calçar": lç. Private to "cercar": e.
"calçar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cercar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cercar ← ccercar · cecrar · ceracr · cercarr · cerccar · cercra · cerrcar · crecar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "calçar" and "cercar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "calçar" or "cercar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "calçar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cercar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,448 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calçar" and "cercar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calçar vs caução". 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 #6,448 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.