descartarvsdescarteTell them apart

Quick tell: descartar is a verb, descarte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,729
“descartar” frequency rank
#22,604
“descarte” frequency rank
39333
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descartar descarte
Definition rejeitar uma carta num jogo o que é descartado; lixo

Where the eye mixes descartar and descarte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descartar runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against descarte's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
descartar
8 ch
descarte

Look-alike desk: descartar vs descarte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: descartar is /deʃ.kaχ.ˈtaχ/ while descarte is /dɨʃ.ˈkaɾ.tɨ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descartar is recorded at frequency rank #16,729, classified as averb, pronounced /deʃ.kaχ.ˈtaχ/. descarte is at rank #22,604, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈkaɾ.tɨ/.

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 39333, this pair ranks #26,945 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descartar vs descarte

Shared letters: acderst. Private to "descartar": -. Private to "descarte": -.

"descartar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descarte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descartar ← ddescartar · decsartar · desacrtar · descaratr · descarrtar · descartarr · descartra · descarttar
  • descarte ← ddescarte · decsarte · desacrte · descaret · descarrte · descartte · descatre · desccarte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "descartar" and "descarte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "descartar" is a verb and "descarte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "descartar" vs "descarte" - which ranks higher?
"descartar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,729 in our Portuguese list, against #22,604 for "descarte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descartar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descarte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #26,945 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descartar" and "descarte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desatar vs descartar". 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 #26,945 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