Which to use
“picar” is a verb and “polar” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,144
- “picar” frequency rank
- #14,674
- “polar” frequency rank
- 40818
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picar | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dar picadas em | relativo aos polos |
Where the eye mixes picar and polar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: picar vs polar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: picar is /pi.ˈkaɾ/ while polar is /pu.ˈlaɾ/. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40818, 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/. polar is at rank #14,674, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pu.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 40818, this pair ranks #25,222 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of picar vs polar
Shared letters: apr. Private to "picar": ci. Private to "polar": lo.
"picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "polar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "picar" for "polar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "picar" or "polar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "picar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,222 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picar" and "polar" 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 #25,222 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.