encarar vs entrar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#5,527
“encarar” frequency rank: #519
“entrar” frequency rank: 6046
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	encarar	entrar
Definition	olhar de frente e fixamente; fitar	passar para dentro

Where the eye mixes encarar and entrar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. encarar runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against entrar's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch

encarar

6 ch

entrar

Visual trap between encarar and entrar

A purely visual mix-up. encarar (/ẽ.kɐ.ˈɾaɾ/) and entrar (/ẽ.ˈtɾaχ/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) 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 6046, 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/. entrar is at rank #519, tagged as averb, pronounced /ẽ.ˈtɾaχ/ ouvir ^(fonte ?).

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 6046, this pair ranks #68,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of encarar vs entrar

Shared letters: aenr. Private to "encarar": c. Private to "entrar": t.

"encarar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "entrar" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

encarar ← ecnarar · enacrar · encaarr · encararr · encarra · encarrar · enccarar · encraar
entrar ← enntrar · enrtar · entarr · entrarr · entrra · entrrar · enttrar · etnrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "encarar" and "entrar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ẽ.kɐ.ˈɾaɾ/ versus /ẽ.ˈtɾaχ/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "encarar" or "entrar"?

"entrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #519 in our Portuguese list, against #5,527 for "encarar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "encarar" and "entrar" 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 "entrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #68,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"encarar" and "entrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encarar vs engatar". 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 #68,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.