Which to use
“encerrar” and “enterrar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,648
- “encerrar” frequency rank
- #13,725
- “enterrar” frequency rank
- 20373
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | encerrar | enterrar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | conter, concluir, terminar | colocar debaixo da terra |
Where the eye mixes encerrar and enterrar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. encerrar and enterrar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses encerrar with enterrar
A purely visual mix-up. encerrar (/ẽj.se.ˈxaɾ/) and enterrar (/ẽ.tɨ.ˈRaɾ/) 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 a single letter - c in “encerrar” becomes t in “enterrar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20373, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
encerrar is recorded at frequency rank #6,648, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽj.se.ˈxaɾ/. enterrar is at rank #13,725, tagged as averb, pronounced /ẽ.tɨ.ˈRaɾ/.
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 20373, this pair ranks #50,171 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of encerrar vs enterrar
Shared letters: aenr. Private to "encerrar": c. Private to "enterrar": t.
"encerrar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "enterrar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "encerrar" and "enterrar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "encerrar" or "enterrar"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "encerrar" and "enterrar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "encerrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enterrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,171 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "encerrar" and "enterrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encenar vs encerrar". 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 #50,171 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.