Which to use
“picar” and “posar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,144
- “picar” frequency rank
- #25,442
- “posar” frequency rank
- 51586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picar | posar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dar picadas em | colocar-se numa determinada posição (para servir de modelo, por exemplo) |
Where the eye mixes picar and posar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. picar and posar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between picar and posar
A purely visual mix-up. picar (/pi.ˈkaɾ/) and posar (/pu.ˈzaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51586, 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/. posar is at rank #25,442, tagged as averb, pronounced /pu.ˈzaɾ/.
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 51586, this pair ranks #13,482 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of picar vs posar
Shared letters: apr. Private to "picar": ci. Private to "posar": os.
"picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "posar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "picar" for "posar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "picar" vs "posar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "picar" and "posar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "picar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,482 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picar" and "posar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs posar". 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 #13,482 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.