Which to use
“enviar” and “espiar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,777
- “enviar” frequency rank
- #39,136
- “espiar” frequency rank
- 40913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enviar | espiar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mandar algo ou alguém de um lugar para outro | observar alguém ou algo esforçando-se para não ser visto |
Where the eye mixes enviar and espiar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. enviar and espiar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: enviar vs espiar
A purely visual mix-up. enviar (/ẽ.ˈvjaɾ/) and espiar (/iʃ.ˈpjaɾ/) 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 40913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enviar is recorded at frequency rank #1,777, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽ.ˈvjaɾ/. espiar is at rank #39,136, tagged as averb, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpjaɾ/.
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 40913, this pair ranks #25,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of enviar vs espiar
Shared letters: aeir. Private to "enviar": nv. Private to "espiar": ps.
"enviar" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "espiar" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "enviar" for "espiar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "enviar" or "espiar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "enviar" and "espiar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "enviar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espiar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enviar" and "espiar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espiar vs espinal". 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 #25,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.