Which to use
“cárie” and “carol” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,971
- “cárie” frequency rank
- #4,295
- “carol” frequency rank
- 45266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cárie | carol |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ulceração nos dentes e ossos, que os destrói progressivamente | coro, canção de Natal |
Where the eye mixes cárie and carol
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cárie (CVCVV) and carol (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between cárie and carol
A purely visual mix-up. cárie (/ˈka.ɾji/) and carol (/ˈkæɹəl/) 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 45266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cárie is recorded at frequency rank #40,971, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.ɾji/. carol is at rank #4,295, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkæɹəl/.
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 45266, this pair ranks #20,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cárie vs carol
Shared letters: cr. Private to "cárie": eiá. Private to "carol": alo.
"cárie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "carol" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- carol ← acrol · caorl · carlo · caroll · carrol · ccarol · craol
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cárie" for "carol" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cárie" or "carol" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cárie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "carol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cárie" and "carol" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cárie vs carpet". 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 #20,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.