conhecervsconvencerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#709
“conhecer” frequency rank
#4,715
“convencer” frequency rank
5424
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conhecer convencer
Definition ter conhecimento de fazer com que um indivíduo ou um grupo de indivíduos mude a sua opinião sobre determinado assunto, tema ou fato

Where the eye mixes conhecer and convencer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
conhecer
9 ch
convencer

Visual trap between conhecer and convencer

A purely visual mix-up. conhecer (/ku.ɲɨ.ˈseɾ/) and convencer (/kõ.vẽ.ˈseɾ/) 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 5424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

conhecer is recorded at frequency rank #709, classified as averb, pronounced /ku.ɲɨ.ˈseɾ/. convencer is at rank #4,715, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.vẽ.ˈseɾ/.

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 5424, this pair ranks #69,194 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of conhecer vs convencer

Shared letters: cenor. Private to "conhecer": h. Private to "convencer": v.

"conhecer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "convencer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conhecercconhecer · cnohecer · cohnecer · conehcer · conhceer · conheccer · conhecerr · conhecre
  • convencercconvencer · cnovencer · conevncer · connvencer · convecner · convenccer · convencerr · convencre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "conhecer" for "convencer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ku.ɲɨ.ˈseɾ/ versus /kõ.vẽ.ˈseɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "conhecer" vs "convencer" - which ranks higher?
"conhecer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #709 in our Portuguese list, against #4,715 for "convencer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "conhecer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "convencer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,194 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "conhecer" and "convencer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conceber vs conhecer". 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 #69,194 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