determinarvsdetermineConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,550
“determinar” frequency rank
#28,165
“determine” frequency rank
31715
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature determinar determine
Definition estabelecer determinar

Where the eye mixes determinar and determine

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
determinar
9 ch
determine

Look-alike desk: determinar vs determine

A purely visual mix-up. determinar (/dɨ.tɨɾ.mi.ˈnaɾ/) and determine (/dɪˈtɜːmɪn/) 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 31715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

determinar is recorded at frequency rank #3,550, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.tɨɾ.mi.ˈnaɾ/. determine is at rank #28,165, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈtɜːmɪn/.

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 31715, this pair ranks #36,277 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of determinar vs determine

Shared letters: deimnrt. Private to "determinar": a. Private to "determine": -.

"determinar" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC  ·  "determine" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • determinarddeterminar · deetrminar · detemrinar · deterimnar · determianr · determinarr · determinnar · determinra
  • determineddetermine · deetrmine · detemrine · deterimne · determien · determinne · determmine · determnie

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "determinar" for "determine" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.tɨɾ.mi.ˈnaɾ/ versus /dɪˈtɜːmɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "determinar" or "determine"?
"determinar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,550 in our Portuguese list, against #28,165 for "determine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "determinar" and "determine" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "determinar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "determine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,277 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "determinar" and "determine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "determinado vs determinar". 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 #36,277 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