encararvsencargoConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#5,527
“encarar” frequency rank
#27,847
“encargo” frequency rank
33374
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encarar encargo
Definition olhar de frente e fixamente; fitar obrigação

Where the eye mixes encarar and encargo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. encarar (VCCVCVC) and encargo (VCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
encarar
7 ch
encargo

Look-alike desk: encarar vs encargo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: encarar is /ẽ.kɐ.ˈɾaɾ/ while encargo is /ẽ.ˈkaɾ.ɡu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33374, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encarar is recorded at frequency rank #5,527, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽ.kɐ.ˈɾaɾ/. encargo is at rank #27,847, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ẽ.ˈkaɾ.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 33374, this pair ranks #34,179 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encarar vs encargo

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "encarar": -. Private to "encargo": go.

"encarar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "encargo" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encarar ← ecnarar · enacrar · encaarr · encararr · encarra · encarrar · enccarar · encraar
  • encargo ← ecnargo · enacrgo · encagro · encarggo · encarog · encarrgo · enccargo · encrago

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "encarar" for "encargo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "encarar" is a verb and "encargo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "encarar" or "encargo" show up more?
"encarar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,527 in our Portuguese list, against #27,847 for "encargo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "encarar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encargo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,179 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encarar" and "encargo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encalço vs encargo". 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 #34,179 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