Which to use
“cerca” is an adverb and “crença” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #362
- “cerca” frequency rank
- #4,892
- “crença” frequency rank
- 5254
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cerca | crença |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | perto, nas proximidades, na cercania | ato ou efeito de crer, acreditar; convicção; opinião |
Where the eye mixes cerca and crença
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cerca runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against crença's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cerca with crença
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cerca is /ˈseɾ.kɐ/ while crença is /ˈkɾẽ.sɐ/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cerca is recorded at frequency rank #362, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈseɾ.kɐ/. crença is at rank #4,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɾẽ.sɐ/.
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 5254, this pair ranks #69,409 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cerca vs crença
Shared letters: acer. Private to "cerca": -. Private to "crença": nç.
"cerca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "crença" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cerca ← ccerca · cecra · cerac · cercca · cerrca · creca · ecrca
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cerca" and "crença" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cerca" vs "crença" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cerca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crença" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,409 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cerca" and "crença" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conca vs crença". 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 #69,409 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.