decretar vs decreto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“decretar” is a verb and “decreto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,933
“decretar” frequency rank: #2,041
“decreto” frequency rank: 26974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	decretar	decreto
Definition	ordenar por decreto	lei, norma ou regulamento editado sem discussão dos interessados

Letter map: decretar vs decreto

Shared letters muted; letters that set decretar and decreto apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. decretar runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against decreto's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch

decretar

7 ch

decreto

Grammar separator: decretar vs decreto

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decretar is averb and decretoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decretar is recorded at frequency rank #24,933, classified as averb. decreto is at rank #2,041, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ˈkɾɛ.tu/.

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 26974, this pair ranks #42,072 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decretar vs decreto

Shared letters: cdert. Private to "decretar": a. Private to "decreto": o.

"decretar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "decreto" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

decretar ← dceretar · ddecretar · deccretar · decertar · decreatr · decretarr · decretra · decrettar
decreto ← dcereto · ddecreto · deccreto · decreot · decretto · decrreto · decrteo · derceto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decretar" and "decreto" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decretar" is a verb and "decreto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "decretar" vs "decreto" - which ranks higher?

"decreto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,041 in our Portuguese list, against #24,933 for "decretar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've compared "decretar" and "decreto". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "decretar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "decreto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #42,072 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"decretar" and "decreto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decretar vs deletar". 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 #42,072 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.