tocamvstorçãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tocam is a verb, torção is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tocam” is a verb and “torção” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,154
“tocam” frequency rank
#30,754
“torção” frequency rank
42908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tocam torção
Definition terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo tocar torção ato de torcer; estado do que foi torcido; torcedura

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tocam and torção apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tocam
6 ch
torção

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tocam is /ˈtɔ.kɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtɔ.kɐ̃ʊ̯̃] while torção is /toɾ.'soŋ/ ou /toɾ.'θoŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42908, 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]. torção is at rank #30,754, tagged as anoun, pronounced /toɾ.'soŋ/ ou /toɾ.'θoŋ/.

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 42908, this pair ranks #22,799 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tocam vs torção

Shared letters: ot. Private to "tocam": acm. Private to "torção": rãç.

"tocam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "torção" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tocamotcam · tcoam · toacm · tocamm · toccam · tocma · ttocam

Frequency comparison

tocam#12,154
torção#30,754

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tocam" and "torção" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tocam" is a verb and "torção" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tocam" or "torção"?
"tocam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,154 in our Portuguese list, against #30,754 for "torção". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tocam vs torção

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tocam”; for a noun, it's “torção”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tocam” 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