taxarvstocarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,268
“taxar” frequency rank
#1,662
“tocar” frequency rank
42930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature taxar tocar
Definition estabelecer ou cobrar taxa encostar uma parte do corpo em

Where the eye mixes taxar and tocar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
taxar
5 ch
tocar

Why the eye confuses taxar with tocar

A purely visual mix-up. taxar (/taˈʃa(ʁ)/ [taˈʃa(h)]) and tocar (/tu.ˈkaɾ/) 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 42930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

taxar is recorded at frequency rank #41,268, classified as averb, pronounced /taˈʃa(ʁ)/ [taˈʃa(h)]. tocar is at rank #1,662, tagged as averb, pronounced /tu.ˈkaɾ/.

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 42930, this pair ranks #22,768 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of taxar vs tocar

Shared letters: art. Private to "taxar": x. Private to "tocar": co.

"taxar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tocar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taxaratxar · taaxr · taxarr · taxra · taxxar · ttaxar · txaar
  • tocarotcar · tcoar · toacr · tocarr · toccar · tocra · ttocar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "taxar" and "tocar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/taˈʃa(ʁ)/ [taˈʃa(h)] versus /tu.ˈkaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "taxar" or "tocar"?
"tocar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,662 in our Portuguese list, against #41,268 for "taxar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "taxar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tocar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,768 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "taxar" and "tocar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "talão vs taxar". 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 #22,768 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