Which to use
“tocam” is a verb and “tocha” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,154
- “tocam” frequency rank
- #10,975
- “tocha” frequency rank
- 23129
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tocam | tocha |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo tocar | vela de cera, grande e grossa; brandão. |
Where the eye mixes tocam and tocha
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tocam vs tocha
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tocam is /ˈtɔ.kɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtɔ.kɐ̃ʊ̯̃] while tocha is /ˈto.ʃɐ/.. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tocam is recorded at frequency rank #12,154, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈtɔ.kɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtɔ.kɐ̃ʊ̯̃]. tocha is at rank #10,975, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈto.ʃɐ/..
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 23129, this pair ranks #46,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tocam vs tocha
Shared letters: acot. Private to "tocam": m. Private to "tocha": h.
"tocam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tocha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tocam" for "tocha" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tocam" vs "tocha" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tocam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tocha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tocam" and "tocha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tocam vs tosa". 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 #46,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.