Which to use
“escurecer” and “esquecer” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,400
- “escurecer” frequency rank
- #1,674
- “esquecer” frequency rank
- 35074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | escurecer | esquecer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fazer escuro | perder a lembrança de alguém ou de alguma coisa; olvidar; deslembrar |
Where the eye mixes escurecer and esquecer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between escurecer and esquecer
A purely visual mix-up. escurecer (/iʃ.ku.ɾɨ.ˈseɾ/) and esquecer (/iʃ.kɛ.ˈseɾ/) 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 35074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
escurecer is recorded at frequency rank #33,400, classified as averb, pronounced /iʃ.ku.ɾɨ.ˈseɾ/. esquecer is at rank #1,674, tagged as averb, pronounced /iʃ.kɛ.ˈseɾ/.
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 35074, this pair ranks #32,035 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of escurecer vs esquecer
Shared letters: cersu. Private to "escurecer": -. Private to "esquecer": q.
"escurecer" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC · "esquecer" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "escurecer" and "esquecer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "escurecer" vs "esquecer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "escurecer" and "esquecer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "escurecer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esquecer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #32,035 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "escurecer" and "esquecer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "endurecer vs escurecer". 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 #32,035 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.