Which to use
“pica” is an adjective and “poça” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,962
- “pica” frequency rank
- #29,093
- “poça” frequency rank
- 37055
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pica | poça |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | excelente, de grande qualidade | cavidade pouco profunda onde se acumula água |
Where the eye mixes pica and poça
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pica with poça
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pica is /ˈpi.kɐ/ while poça is /ˈpo.sɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pica is recorded at frequency rank #7,962, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpi.kɐ/. poça is at rank #29,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.sɐ/.
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 37055, this pair ranks #29,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pica vs poça
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pica": ci. Private to "poça": oç.
"pica" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "poça" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pica ← ipca · pcia · piac · picca · ppica
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pica" for "poça" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pica" vs "poça" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poça" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pica" and "poça" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paçoca vs poça". 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 #29,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.