cárievscerneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,971
“cárie” frequency rank
#22,249
“cerne” frequency rank
63220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cárie cerne
Definition ulceração nos dentes e ossos, que os destrói progressivamente parte central do tronco das árvores, que tem funções estruturais

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cárie and cerne apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cárie
5 ch
cerne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

cárie and cerne 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63220, 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/. cerne is at rank #22,249, tagged as anoun.

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 63220, this pair ranks #6,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cárie vs cerne

Shared letters: cer. Private to "cárie": . Private to "cerne": n.

"cárie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "cerne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cerneccerne · cenre · ceren · cernne · cerrne · crene · ecrne

Frequency comparison

cárie#40,971
cerne#22,249

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cárie" and "cerne" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "cárie" or "cerne"?
"cerne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,249 in our Portuguese list, against #40,971 for "cárie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cárie vs cerne

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 “cárie” 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