memóriavsmemorizarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: memória is a noun, memorizar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“memória” is a noun and “memorizar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,249
“memória” frequency rank
#33,081
“memorizar” frequency rank
34330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature memória memorizar
Definition faculdade de conservar e reproduzir as ideias, imagens ou conhecimentos anteriormente adquiridos conservar na memória

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
memória
9 ch
memorizar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: memória is /mɨ.ˈmɔ.ɾjɐ/ while memorizar is /mɨ.mu.ɾi.ˈzaɾ/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

memória is recorded at frequency rank #1,249, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈmɔ.ɾjɐ/. memorizar is at rank #33,081, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɨ.mu.ɾi.ˈzaɾ/.

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 34330, this pair ranks #32,971 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of memória vs memorizar

Shared letters: aeimr. Private to "memória": ó. Private to "memorizar": oz.

"memória" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "memorizar" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • memorizaremmorizar · memmorizar · memoirzar · memoriazr · memorizarr · memorizra · memorizzar · memorrizar

Frequency comparison

memória#1,249
memorizar#33,081

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "memória" and "memorizar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "memória" is a noun and "memorizar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "memória" or "memorizar"?
"memória" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,249 in our Portuguese list, against #33,081 for "memorizar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering memória vs memorizar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “memória”; for a verb, it's “memorizar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “memória” 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