Which to use
“crença” and “criança” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,892
- “crença” frequency rank
- #597
- “criança” frequency rank
- 5489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crença | criança |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de crer, acreditar; convicção; opinião | ser humano que se começa a criar |
Where the eye mixes crença and criança
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. crença runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against criança's 7 (CCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: crença vs criança
A purely visual mix-up. crença (/ˈkɾẽ.sɐ/) and criança (/kɾi.ɐ̃.ˈsɐ/) 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 5489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crença is recorded at frequency rank #4,892, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɾẽ.sɐ/. criança is at rank #597, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɾi.ɐ̃.ˈsɐ/.
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 5489, this pair ranks #69,117 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crença vs criança
Shared letters: acnrç. Private to "crença": e. Private to "criança": i.
"crença" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "criança" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crença" for "criança" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crença" vs "criança" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "crença" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "criança" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,117 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crença" and "criança" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conca vs crença". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,117 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.