quebrarvsqueimarTell them apart

Which to use

“quebrar” and “queimar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,797
“quebrar” frequency rank
#5,337
“queimar” frequency rank
8134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quebrar queimar
Definition partir, romper sofrer combustão rápida ou consumir combustível de maneira a liberar calor, gases e luz

Where the eye mixes quebrar and queimar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
quebrar
7 ch
queimar

Why the eye confuses quebrar with queimar

A purely visual mix-up. quebrar (/kɨ.ˈbɾaɾ/) and queimar (/kɐj.ˈmaɾ/) 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 8134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quebrar is recorded at frequency rank #2,797, classified as averb, pronounced /kɨ.ˈbɾaɾ/. queimar is at rank #5,337, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɐj.ˈmaɾ/.

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 8134, this pair ranks #65,756 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quebrar vs queimar

Shared letters: aeqru. Private to "quebrar": b. Private to "queimar": im.

"quebrar" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "queimar" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quebrarqeubrar · qquebrar · quberar · quebarr · quebbrar · quebrarr · quebrra · quebrrar
  • queimarqeuimar · qqueimar · queiamr · queimarr · queimmar · queimra · quemiar · quiemar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "quebrar" and "queimar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/kɨ.ˈbɾaɾ/ versus /kɐj.ˈmaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quebrar" vs "queimar" - which ranks higher?
"quebrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,797 in our Portuguese list, against #5,337 for "queimar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quebrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "queimar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,756 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quebrar" and "queimar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "queimar vs quitar". 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 #65,756 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list