licençavslicenciarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: licença is a intj, licenciar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“licença” is an intj and “licenciar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#988
“licença” frequency rank
#45,439
“licenciar” frequency rank
46427
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature licença licenciar
Definition expressa o desejo e pedido dirigido a alguém de que tal se afaste um tanto do lugar que se está de forma a criar algum espaço vazio para que se tenha possibilidade de passagem conceder ou obter uma licença para determinado propósito

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set licença and licenciar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
licença
9 ch
licenciar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: licença is /li.ˈsẽ.sɐ/ while licenciar is /li.sẽ.ˈsjaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

licença is recorded at frequency rank #988, classified as anintj, pronounced /li.ˈsẽ.sɐ/. licenciar is at rank #45,439, tagged as averb, pronounced /li.sẽ.ˈsjaɾ/.

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 46427, this pair ranks #18,880 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of licença vs licenciar

Shared letters: aceiln. Private to "licença": ç. Private to "licenciar": r.

"licença" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "licenciar" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • licenciarilcenciar · lcienciar · liccenciar · licecniar · licencair · licencciar · licenciarr · licencira

Frequency comparison

licença#988
licenciar#45,439

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "licença" and "licenciar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "licença" is an intj and "licenciar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "licença" or "licenciar"?
"licença" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #988 in our Portuguese list, against #45,439 for "licenciar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering licença vs licenciar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “licença”; for a verb, it's “licenciar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “licença” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list