recitarvsrecrutarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,193
“recitar” frequency rank
#17,374
“recrutar” frequency rank
53567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recitar recrutar
Definition dizer em voz alta e clara, lendo ou não alistar para o serviço militar

Where the eye mixes recitar and recrutar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. recitar runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against recrutar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
recitar
8 ch
recrutar

Visual trap between recitar and recrutar

A purely visual mix-up. recitar (/Rɨ.si.ˈtaɾ/) and recrutar (/Rɨ.kɾu.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recitar is recorded at frequency rank #36,193, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.si.ˈtaɾ/. recrutar is at rank #17,374, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.kɾu.ˈtaɾ/.

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 53567, this pair ranks #11,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recitar vs recrutar

Shared letters: acert. Private to "recitar": i. Private to "recrutar": u.

"recitar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "recrutar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recitar ← ercitar · rceitar · reccitar · reciatr · recitarr · recitra · recittar · rectiar
  • recrutar ← ercrutar · rcerutar · reccrutar · recrrutar · recrtuar · recruatr · recrutarr · recrutra

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recitar" and "recrutar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.si.ˈtaɾ/ versus /Rɨ.kɾu.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recitar" vs "recrutar" - which ranks higher?
"recrutar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,374 in our Portuguese list, against #36,193 for "recitar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "recitar" and "recrutar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recrutar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recitar" and "recrutar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recitar vs refinar". 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 #11,947 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