cárcerevscarreraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,673
“cárcere” frequency rank
#49,341
“carrera” frequency rank
69014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cárcere carrera
Definition cadeia, prisão rua

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cárcere and carrera apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cárcere
7 ch
carrera

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cárcere (/ˈkaɾ.sɨ.ɾɨ/) and carrera (/kaˈreɾa/) 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 69014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cárcere is recorded at frequency rank #19,673, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkaɾ.sɨ.ɾɨ/. carrera is at rank #49,341, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaˈreɾa/.

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 69014, this pair ranks #4,073 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cárcere vs carrera

Shared letters: cer. Private to "cárcere": á. Private to "carrera": a.

"cárcere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "carrera" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carreraacrrera · carera · carerra · carrear · carrerra · carrrea · ccarrera · crarera

Frequency comparison

cárcere#19,673
carrera#49,341

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cárcere" and "carrera" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkaɾ.sɨ.ɾɨ/ versus /kaˈreɾa/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cárcere" or "carrera"?
"cárcere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,673 in our Portuguese list, against #49,341 for "carrera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cárcere vs carrera

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cárcere” 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