Which to use
“toca” is a noun and “tocam” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,545
- “toca” frequency rank
- #12,154
- “tocam” frequency rank
- 14699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toca | tocam |
|---|---|---|
| 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) | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo tocar |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toca and tocam apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
toca and tocam form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “toca” sits inside “tocam” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14699, 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/. tocam is at rank #12,154, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈtɔ.kɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtɔ.kɐ̃ʊ̯̃].
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 14699, this pair ranks #57,300 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "toca" and "tocam" be used interchangeably?
Remembering toca vs tocam
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “toca”; for a verb, it's “tocam”.
- 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