pagãovspegarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pagão is a adjective, pegar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pagão” is an adjective and “pegar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,306
“pagão” frequency rank
#744
“pegar” frequency rank
29050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagão pegar
Definition diz-se de pessoa não batizada fazer aderir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pagão and pegar apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pagão
5 ch
pegar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pagão is anadjective and pegaraverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagão is recorded at frequency rank #28,306, classified as anadj. pegar is at rank #744, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɨ.ˈɡaɾ/.

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 29050, this pair ranks #39,684 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pagão vs pegar

Shared letters: agp. Private to "pagão": . Private to "pegar": er.

"pagão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "pegar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegarepgar · peagr · pegarr · peggar · pegra · pgear · ppegar

Frequency comparison

pagão#28,306
pegar#744

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pagão" and "pegar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pagão" is an adjective and "pegar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pagão" or "pegar"?
"pegar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #744 in our Portuguese list, against #28,306 for "pagão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pagão vs pegar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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