Which to use
“picar” is a verb and “pisca” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,144
- “picar” frequency rank
- #21,544
- “pisca” frequency rank
- 47688
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picar | pisca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dar picadas em | coisa muitíssimo pequena; pequeno grão; pó; fagulha |
Where the eye mixes picar and pisca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. picar (CVCVC) and pisca (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between picar and pisca
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: picar is /pi.ˈkaɾ/ while pisca is /ˈpiʃ.kɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47688, 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/. pisca is at rank #21,544, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpiʃ.kɐ/.
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 47688, this pair ranks #17,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of picar vs pisca
Shared letters: acip. Private to "picar": r. Private to "pisca": s.
"picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pisca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "picar" and "pisca" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "picar" vs "pisca" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "picar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pisca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picar" and "pisca" 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 #17,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.