picar vs pilar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“picar” is a verb and “pilar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,144
“picar” frequency rank: #8,938
“pilar” frequency rank: 35082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	picar	pilar
Definition	dar picadas em	coluna de sustentação de edifício ou estrutura; esteio, escora, suporte

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set picar and pilar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

picar

5 ch

pilar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: picar is /pi.ˈkaɾ/ while pilar is /pi.ˈlaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “picar” becomes l in “pilar”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

picar is recorded at frequency rank #26,144, classified as averb, pronounced /pi.ˈkaɾ/. pilar is at rank #8,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pi.ˈlaɾ/.

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 35082, this pair ranks #32,027 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of picar vs pilar

Shared letters: aipr. Private to "picar": c. Private to "pilar": l.

"picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pilar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

picar ← ipcar · pciar · piacr · picarr · piccar · picra · ppicar
pilar ← iplar · pialr · pilarr · pillar · pilra · pliar · ppilar

Frequency comparison

picar#26,144

pilar#8,938

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "picar" and "pilar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "picar" is a verb and "pilar" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "picar" or "pilar"?

"pilar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,938 in our Portuguese list, against #26,144 for "picar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering picar vs pilar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “picar”; for a noun, it's “pilar”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “picar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable