Which to use
“empregar” is a verb and “emprego” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,268
- “empregar” frequency rank
- #1,071
- “emprego” frequency rank
- 18339
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empregar | emprego |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contratar os serviços de alguém; dar emprego a; ter ou manter a seu serviço | uso |
Where the eye mixes empregar and emprego
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. empregar runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against emprego's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between empregar and emprego
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empregar is /ẽ.pɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ while emprego is /ẽ.ˈpɾe.ɡu/. 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 18339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empregar is recorded at frequency rank #17,268, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽ.pɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. emprego is at rank #1,071, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ẽ.ˈpɾe.ɡu/.
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 18339, this pair ranks #52,667 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empregar vs emprego
Shared letters: egmpr. Private to "empregar": a. Private to "emprego": o.
"empregar" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC · "emprego" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "empregar" and "emprego" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "empregar" or "emprego"?
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 "empregar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emprego" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,667 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empregar" and "emprego" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empolgar vs empregar". 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 #52,667 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.