tocavstocadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: toca is a noun, tocado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“toca” is a noun and “tocado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,545
“toca” frequency rank
#11,756
“tocado” frequency rank
14301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toca tocado
Definition buraco, natural ou aberto por alguns animais (roedores, aves, desdentados, etc.), usado como abrigo em árvores, solo, pedras ou outros ambientes (como a casa de troncos do castor) apalpado, atingido

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toca and tocado apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
toca
6 ch
tocado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toca is /ˈtɔ.kɐ/ while tocado is /tu.ˈka.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “toca” sits inside “tocado”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toca is recorded at frequency rank #2,545, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɔ.kɐ/. tocado is at rank #11,756, tagged as anadj, pronounced /tu.ˈka.du/.

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 14301, this pair ranks #57,836 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of toca vs tocado

Shared letters: acot. Private to "toca": -. Private to "tocado": d.

"toca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tocado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tocaotca · tcoa · toac · tocca · ttoca
  • tocadootcado · tcoado · toacdo · tocaddo · tocaod · toccado · tocdao · ttocado

Frequency comparison

toca#2,545
tocado#11,756

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toca" and "tocado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toca" is a noun and "tocado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toca" or "tocado"?
"toca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,545 in our Portuguese list, against #11,756 for "tocado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering toca vs tocado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “toca”; for an adjective, it's “tocado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “toca” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list