tarefavstrufaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,444
“tarefa” frequency rank
#41,284
“trufa” frequency rank
43728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tarefa trufa
Definition encargo, trabalho cogumelo subterrâneo comestível (género Tuber)

Where the eye mixes tarefa and trufa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tarefa runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against trufa's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tarefa
5 ch
trufa

Look-alike desk: tarefa vs trufa

A purely visual mix-up. tarefa (/taˈɾɛ.fɐ/) and trufa (/ˈtɾu.fɐ/) 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 43728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tarefa is recorded at frequency rank #2,444, classified as anoun, pronounced /taˈɾɛ.fɐ/. trufa is at rank #41,284, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɾu.fɐ/.

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 43728, this pair ranks #21,895 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tarefa vs trufa

Shared letters: afrt. Private to "tarefa": e. Private to "trufa": u.

"tarefa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "trufa" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tarefa ← atrefa · taerfa · tareaf · tareffa · tarfea · tarrefa · traefa · ttarefa
  • trufa ← rtufa · trfua · trrufa · truaf · truffa · ttrufa · turfa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tarefa" and "trufa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/taˈɾɛ.fɐ/ versus /ˈtɾu.fɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tarefa" or "trufa"?
"tarefa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,444 in our Portuguese list, against #41,284 for "trufa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tarefa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trufa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,895 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tarefa" and "trufa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trufa vs tufo". 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 #21,895 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