Which to use
“encontrar” and “encostar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #460
- “encontrar” frequency rank
- #16,042
- “encostar” frequency rank
- 16502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | encontrar | encostar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ir de encontro a | apoiar |
Where the eye mixes encontrar and encostar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: encontrar vs encostar
A purely visual mix-up. encontrar (/ẽ.kõ.ˈtɾaɾ/) and encostar (/ẽ.kuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 16502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
encontrar is recorded at frequency rank #460, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽ.kõ.ˈtɾaɾ/. encostar is at rank #16,042, tagged as averb, pronounced /ẽ.kuʃ.ˈtaɾ/.
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 16502, this pair ranks #55,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of encontrar vs encostar
Shared letters: acenort. Private to "encontrar": -. Private to "encostar": s.
"encontrar" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "encostar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "encontrar" and "encostar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "encontrar" or "encostar"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "encontrar" and "encostar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "encontrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "encostar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "encontrar" and "encostar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encostado vs encostar". 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 #55,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.