Which to use
“careca” is an adjective and “cerca” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,848
- “careca” frequency rank
- #362
- “cerca” frequency rank
- 11210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | careca | cerca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | falta de cabelo na cabeça; calvo | perto, nas proximidades, na cercania |
Where the eye mixes careca and cerca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses careca with cerca
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: careca is /kɐ.ˈɾɛ.kɐ/ while cerca is /ˈseɾ.kɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
careca is recorded at frequency rank #10,848, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈɾɛ.kɐ/. cerca is at rank #362, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈseɾ.kɐ/.
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 11210, this pair ranks #61,696 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of careca vs cerca
Shared letters: acer. Private to "careca": -. Private to "cerca": -.
"careca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cerca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "careca" and "cerca" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "careca" vs "cerca" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "careca" and "cerca" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "careca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cerca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,696 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "careca" and "cerca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "careca vs carrera". 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 #61,696 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.