Which to use
“refém” is a noun and “reger” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,531
- “refém” frequency rank
- #38,457
- “reger” frequency rank
- 49988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refém | reger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pessoa ou povoação que fica em poder do inimigo como penhor de um contrato | governar |
Where the eye mixes refém and reger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses refém with reger
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: refém is /ʀɨ.ˈfɐ̃j̃/ while reger is /Rɨ.ˈʒeɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refém is recorded at frequency rank #11,531, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʀɨ.ˈfɐ̃j̃/. reger is at rank #38,457, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈʒeɾ/.
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 49988, this pair ranks #14,985 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of refém vs reger
Shared letters: er. Private to "refém": fmé. Private to "reger": g.
"refém" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "reger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- reger ← erger · reegr · regerr · regger · regre · rgeer · rreger
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refém" for "reger" ever safe?
Frequency check: "refém" vs "reger" - which ranks higher?
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 "refém" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,985 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refém" and "reger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reger vs reles". 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 #14,985 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.