empregarvsentregarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,268
“empregar” frequency rank
#2,514
“entregar” frequency rank
19782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empregar entregar
Definition contratar os serviços de alguém; dar emprego a; ter ou manter a seu serviço transportar algo até o destinatário desejado

Where the eye mixes empregar and entregar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. empregar and entregar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
empregar
8 ch
entregar

Visual trap between empregar and entregar

A purely visual mix-up. empregar (/ẽ.pɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and entregar (/ẽ.tɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19782, 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/. entregar is at rank #2,514, tagged as averb, pronounced /ẽ.tɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/.

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 19782, this pair ranks #50,868 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empregar vs entregar

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "empregar": mp. Private to "entregar": nt.

"empregar" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "entregar" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empregar ← emmpregar · empergar · emppregar · empreagr · empregarr · empreggar · empregra · emprgear
  • entregar ← enntregar · enrtegar · entergar · entreagr · entregarr · entreggar · entregra · entrgear

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empregar" and "entregar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ẽ.pɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /ẽ.tɾɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "empregar" vs "entregar" - which ranks higher?
"entregar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,514 in our Portuguese list, against #17,268 for "empregar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empregar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entregar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,868 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empregar" and "entregar" 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 #50,868 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