cantarvsconstarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,221
“cantar” frequency rank
#12,409
“constar” frequency rank
14630
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cantar constar
Definition emitir sons vocálicos formando uma sequência melodiosa estar escrito, incluído ou mencionado

Letter map: cantar vs constar

Shared letters muted; letters that set cantar and constar apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. cantar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against constar's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cantar
7 ch
constar

Pair insight - cantar / constar

cantar and constar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cantar is recorded at frequency rank #2,221, classified as averb. constar is at rank #12,409, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõʃ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 14630, this pair ranks #57,393 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cantar vs constar

Shared letters: acnrt. Private to "cantar": -. Private to "constar": os.

"cantar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "constar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cantar ← acntar · canatr · canntar · cantarr · cantra · canttar · catnar · ccantar
  • constar ← cconstar · cnostar · connstar · consatr · consstar · constarr · constra · consttar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cantar" for "constar" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "cantar" or "constar"?
"cantar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,221 in our Portuguese list, against #12,409 for "constar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cantar" and "constar".

  • Full dictionary entry for "cantar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "constar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,393 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cantar" and "constar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constar vs consumar". 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 #57,393 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