Which to use
“pescar” and “picar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,884
- “pescar” frequency rank
- #26,144
- “picar” frequency rank
- 42028
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pescar | picar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | apanhar na água (o peixe ou outro animal aquático) | dar picadas em |
Where the eye mixes pescar and picar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pescar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against picar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pescar with picar
A purely visual mix-up. pescar (/pesˈka(ʁ)/ [pesˈka(h)]) and picar (/pi.ˈkaɾ/) 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 42028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pescar is recorded at frequency rank #15,884, classified as averb, pronounced /pesˈka(ʁ)/ [pesˈka(h)]. picar is at rank #26,144, tagged as averb, pronounced /pi.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 42028, this pair ranks #23,800 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pescar vs picar
Shared letters: acpr. Private to "pescar": es. Private to "picar": i.
"pescar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pescar" and "picar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pescar" vs "picar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pescar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,800 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pescar" and "picar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picar vs pilão". 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 #23,800 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.