Which to use
“cavar” and “curvar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,601
- “cavar” frequency rank
- #35,088
- “curvar” frequency rank
- 58689
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cavar | curvar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | abrir ou revolver a terra com enxada ou sacho; escavar; sachar | arquear |
Where the eye mixes cavar and curvar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cavar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against curvar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cavar vs curvar
A purely visual mix-up. cavar (/kɐ.ˈvaɾ/) and curvar (/kuɾ.ˈvaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cavar is recorded at frequency rank #23,601, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ.ˈvaɾ/. curvar is at rank #35,088, tagged as averb, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈvaɾ/.
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 58689, this pair ranks #8,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cavar vs curvar
Shared letters: acrv. Private to "cavar": -. Private to "curvar": u.
"cavar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "curvar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cavar" and "curvar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cavar" or "curvar" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cavar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "curvar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cavar" and "curvar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "curvado vs curvar". 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 #8,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.