pegadavspicadaConfusable pair

Which to use

“pegada” and “picada” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,583
“pegada” frequency rank
#14,207
“picada” frequency rank
24790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pegada picada
Definition vestígio que o pé deixa no solo golpe dado com pico

Where the eye mixes pegada and picada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
pegada
6 ch
picada

Look-alike desk: pegada vs picada

A purely visual mix-up. pegada (/pɛ.ˈɡa.dɐ/) and picada (/pi.ˈka.dɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pegada is recorded at frequency rank #10,583, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɛ.ˈɡa.dɐ/. picada is at rank #14,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pi.ˈka.dɐ/.

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 24790, this pair ranks #44,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pegada vs picada

Shared letters: adp. Private to "pegada": eg. Private to "picada": ci.

"pegada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "picada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegadaepgada · peagda · pegaad · pegadda · pegdaa · peggada · pgeada · ppegada
  • picadaipcada · pciada · piacda · picaad · picadda · piccada · picdaa · ppicada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pegada" and "picada" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɛ.ˈɡa.dɐ/ versus /pi.ˈka.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pegada" vs "picada" - which ranks higher?
"pegada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,583 in our Portuguese list, against #14,207 for "picada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pegada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "picada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pegada" and "picada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pescada vs picada". 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 #44,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list