clicar vs colocar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#10,855
“clicar” frequency rank: #696
“colocar” frequency rank: 11551
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	clicar	colocar
Definition	gerar um clique (estalido)	pôr num lugar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clicar and colocar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

clicar

7 ch

colocar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. clicar (/kli.ˈkaɾ/) and colocar (/ku.lu.ˈkaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clicar is recorded at frequency rank #10,855, classified as averb, pronounced /kli.ˈkaɾ/. colocar is at rank #696, tagged as averb, pronounced /ku.lu.ˈkaɾ/.

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 11551, this pair ranks #61,265 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clicar vs colocar

Shared letters: aclr. Private to "clicar": i. Private to "colocar": o.

"clicar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "colocar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

clicar ← cclicar · cilcar · clciar · cliacr · clicarr · cliccar · clicra · cllicar
colocar ← ccolocar · cloocar · colcoar · collocar · coloacr · colocarr · coloccar · colocra

Frequency comparison

clicar#10,855

colocar#696

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clicar" and "colocar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kli.ˈkaɾ/ versus /ku.lu.ˈkaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "clicar" or "colocar"?

"colocar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #696 in our Portuguese list, against #10,855 for "clicar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering clicar vs colocar

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