Which to use
“com” is a preposition and “comer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14
- “com” frequency rank
- #753
- “comer” frequency rank
- 767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | com | comer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indica várias relações: companhia, causa, instrumento, ligação, modo, oposição | comida, alimentos |
Where the eye mixes com and comer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses com with comer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: com is /kõ/ while comer is /ku.'me/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “com” sits inside “comer”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
com is recorded at frequency rank #14, classified as aprep, pronounced /kõ/. comer is at rank #753, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ku.'me/.
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 767, this pair ranks #74,889 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of com vs comer
Shared letters: cmo. Private to "com": -. Private to "comer": er.
"com" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "comer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- comer ← ccomer · cmoer · coemr · comerr · commer · comre · ocmer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "com" and "comer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "com" or "comer" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "com" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "comer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,889 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "com" and "comer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "codex vs comer". 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 #74,889 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.