convidarvsconvocarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,523
“convidar” frequency rank
#14,548
“convocar” frequency rank
21071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature convidar convocar
Definition obsequiar chamar para reunião

Where the eye mixes convidar and convocar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. convidar and convocar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
convidar
8 ch
convocar

Why the eye confuses convidar with convocar

A purely visual mix-up. convidar (/kõ.vi.ˈdaɾ/) and convocar (/kõ.vu.ˈkaɾ/) 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 21071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

convidar is recorded at frequency rank #6,523, classified as averb, pronounced /kõ.vi.ˈdaɾ/. convocar is at rank #14,548, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.vu.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 21071, this pair ranks #49,280 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of convidar vs convocar

Shared letters: acnorv. Private to "convidar": di. Private to "convocar": -.

"convidar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "convocar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • convidar ← cconvidar · cnovidar · conivdar · connvidar · convdiar · conviadr · convidarr · conviddar
  • convocar ← cconvocar · cnovocar · connvocar · conovcar · convcoar · convoacr · convocarr · convoccar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "convidar" and "convocar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kõ.vi.ˈdaɾ/ versus /kõ.vu.ˈkaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "convidar" vs "convocar" - which ranks higher?
"convidar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,523 in our Portuguese list, against #14,548 for "convocar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "convidar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "convocar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,280 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "convidar" and "convocar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consolar vs convocar". 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 #49,280 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