queimarvsqueixaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: queimar is a verb, queixa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#5,337
“queimar” frequency rank
#5,574
“queixa” frequency rank
10911
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queimar queixa
Definition sofrer combustão rápida ou consumir combustível de maneira a liberar calor, gases e luz ato ou efeito de queixar-se

Where the eye mixes queimar and queixa

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

7 ch
queimar
6 ch
queixa

Look-alike desk: queimar vs queixa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: queimar is /kɐj.ˈmaɾ/ while queixa is /ˈkɐj.ʃɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

queimar is recorded at frequency rank #5,337, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐj.ˈmaɾ/. queixa is at rank #5,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɐj.ʃɐ/.

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 10911, this pair ranks #62,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of queimar vs queixa

Shared letters: aeiqu. Private to "queimar": mr. Private to "queixa": x.

"queimar" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC  ·  "queixa" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • queimarqeuimar · qqueimar · queiamr · queimarr · queimmar · queimra · quemiar · quiemar
  • queixaqeuixa · qqueixa · queiax · queixxa · quexia · quiexa · uqeixa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "queimar" and "queixa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "queimar" is a verb and "queixa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "queimar" or "queixa" show up more?
"queimar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,337 in our Portuguese list, against #5,574 for "queixa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "queimar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "queixa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "queimar" and "queixa" 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 #62,056 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