Which to use
“chama” is a noun and “chamar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #781
- “chama” frequency rank
- #884
- “chamar” frequency rank
- 1665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chama | chamar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | labareda que se eleva dos materiais incandescentes, flama | solicitar a atenção ou a aproximação de alguém ou de algum animal (com palavras ou sinais) |
Where the eye mixes chama and chamar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses chama with chamar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chama is /ˈʃɐ.mɐ/ while chamar is /ʃɐ.ˈmaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “chama” sits inside “chamar”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chama is recorded at frequency rank #781, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃɐ.mɐ/. chamar is at rank #884, tagged as averb, pronounced /ʃɐ.ˈmaɾ/.
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 1665, this pair ranks #73,859 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chama vs chamar
Shared letters: achm. Private to "chama": -. Private to "chamar": r.
"chama" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chamar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chama" for "chamar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "chama" or "chamar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "chama" and "chamar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chamar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,859 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chama" and "chamar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chama vs chau". 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 #73,859 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.