chorarvscoçarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,563
“chorar” frequency rank
#23,956
“coçar” frequency rank
26519
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chorar coçar
Definition derramar lágrimas por dor ou tristeza esfregar com as unhas, ou com outro objeto, qualquer parte do corpo onde se sente comichão

Letter map: chorar vs coçar

Shared letters muted; letters that set chorar and coçar apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
chorar
5 ch
coçar

Pair insight - chorar / coçar

chorar and coçar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26519, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chorar is recorded at frequency rank #2,563, classified as averb. coçar is at rank #23,956, tagged as averb, pronounced /ku.ˈsaɾ/.

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 26519, this pair ranks #42,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chorar vs coçar

Shared letters: acor. Private to "chorar": h. Private to "coçar": ç.

"chorar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "coçar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chorarcchorar · chhorar · choarr · chorarr · chorra · chorrar · chroar · cohrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chorar" for "coçar" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "chorar" vs "coçar" - which ranks higher?
"chorar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,563 in our Portuguese list, against #23,956 for "coçar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "chorar" and "coçar". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chorar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coçar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #42,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chorar" and "coçar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clonar vs coçar". 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 #42,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list