chegar vs chupar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#390
“chegar” frequency rank: #11,602
“chupar” frequency rank: 11992
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chegar	chupar
Definition	pôr em contato	sorver, sugar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chegar and chupar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

chegar

6 ch

chupar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chegar (/ʃɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and chupar (/ʃuˈpaɾ/) 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 11992, 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/. chupar is at rank #11,602, tagged as averb, pronounced /ʃuˈpaɾ/.

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 11992, this pair ranks #60,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chegar vs chupar

Shared letters: achr. Private to "chegar": eg. Private to "chupar": pu.

"chegar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "chupar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

chegar ← cchegar · cehgar · cheagr · chegarr · cheggar · chegra · chgear · chhegar
chupar ← cchupar · chhupar · chpuar · chuapr · chuparr · chuppar · chupra · cuhpar

Frequency comparison

chegar#390

chupar#11,602

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chegar" and "chupar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ʃɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /ʃuˈpaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "chegar" or "chupar"?

"chegar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #390 in our Portuguese list, against #11,602 for "chupar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chegar vs chupar

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 “chegar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable