Which to use
“pecado” is a noun and “pecar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,926
- “pecado” frequency rank
- #32,725
- “pecar” frequency rank
- 36651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pecado | pecar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | transgressão de um preceito religioso | cometer pecado |
Where the eye mixes pecado and pecar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pecado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against pecar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pecado and pecar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pecado is /pɨ.ˈka.du/ while pecar is /pɨ.ˈkaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 36651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pecado is recorded at frequency rank #3,926, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨ.ˈka.du/. pecar is at rank #32,725, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɨ.ˈkaɾ/.
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 36651, this pair ranks #30,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pecado vs pecar
Shared letters: acep. Private to "pecado": do. Private to "pecar": r.
"pecado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "pecar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pecado" and "pecar" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pecado" or "pecar" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pecado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pecar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pecado" and "pecar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacas vs pecar". 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 #30,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.