Which to use
“pecar” and “pescar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,725
- “pecar” frequency rank
- #15,884
- “pescar” frequency rank
- 48609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pecar | pescar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cometer pecado | apanhar na água (o peixe ou outro animal aquático) |
Where the eye mixes pecar and pescar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pecar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against pescar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pecar with pescar
A purely visual mix-up. pecar (/pɨ.ˈkaɾ/) and pescar (/pesˈka(ʁ)/ [pesˈka(h)]) 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 48609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pecar is recorded at frequency rank #32,725, classified as averb, pronounced /pɨ.ˈkaɾ/. pescar is at rank #15,884, tagged as averb, pronounced /pesˈka(ʁ)/ [pesˈka(h)].
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 48609, this pair ranks #16,562 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pecar vs pescar
Shared letters: acepr. Private to "pecar": -. Private to "pescar": s.
"pecar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pescar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pecar" and "pescar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pecar" or "pescar" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pecar" and "pescar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pecar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pescar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,562 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pecar" and "pescar" 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 #16,562 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.