Which to use
“chegar” and “chegou” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #390
- “chegar” frequency rank
- #459
- “chegou” frequency rank
- 849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chegar | chegou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pôr em contato | terceira pessoa do pretérito perfeito do indicativo de chegar. |
Where the eye mixes chegar and chegou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chegar (CCVCVC) and chegou (CCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between chegar and chegou
A purely visual mix-up. chegar (/ʃɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and chegou ([ʃe.ˈgow] ou [ʃe.ˈgoː]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chegar is recorded at frequency rank #390, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. chegou is at rank #459, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃe.ˈgow] ou [ʃe.ˈgoː].
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 849, this pair ranks #74,785 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chegar vs chegou
Shared letters: cegh. Private to "chegar": ar. Private to "chegou": ou.
"chegar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "chegou" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chegar" for "chegou" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chegar" vs "chegou" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "chegar" and "chegou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chegou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,785 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chegar" and "chegou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chefiar vs chegar". 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 #74,785 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.