dedicado vs dedicar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dedicado” is an adjective and “dedicar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,321
“dedicado” frequency rank: #5,725
“dedicar” frequency rank: 9046
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dedicado	dedicar
Definition	devotado; que se dedica	destinar, consagrar:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dedicado and dedicar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

dedicado

7 ch

dedicar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dedicado is /dɨ.di.ˈka.du/ while dedicar is /dɨ.di.ˈkaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dedicado is recorded at frequency rank #3,321, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɨ.di.ˈka.du/. dedicar is at rank #5,725, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.di.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 9046, this pair ranks #64,520 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dedicado vs dedicar

Shared letters: acdei. Private to "dedicado": o. Private to "dedicar": r.

"dedicado" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "dedicar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

dedicado ← ddedicado · ddeicado · dedciado · deddicado · dediacdo · dedicaddo · dedicaod · dediccado
dedicar ← ddedicar · ddeicar · dedciar · deddicar · dediacr · dedicarr · dediccar · dedicra

Frequency comparison

dedicado#3,321

dedicar#5,725

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dedicado" and "dedicar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dedicado" is an adjective and "dedicar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "dedicado" or "dedicar"?

"dedicado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,321 in our Portuguese list, against #5,725 for "dedicar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dedicado vs dedicar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dedicado”; for a verb, it's “dedicar”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dedicado” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable