tocarvstraçarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,662
“tocar” frequency rank
#11,976
“traçar” frequency rank
13638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tocar traçar
Definition encostar uma parte do corpo em representar por meio de traços

Where the eye mixes tocar and traçar

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

5 ch
tocar
6 ch
traçar

Look-alike desk: tocar vs traçar

A purely visual mix-up. tocar (/tu.ˈkaɾ/) and traçar (/tɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tocar is recorded at frequency rank #1,662, classified as averb, pronounced /tu.ˈkaɾ/. traçar is at rank #11,976, tagged as averb, pronounced /tɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/.

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 13638, this pair ranks #58,649 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tocar vs traçar

Shared letters: art. Private to "tocar": co. Private to "traçar": ç.

"tocar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "traçar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tocarotcar · tcoar · toacr · tocarr · toccar · tocra · ttocar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tocar" for "traçar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/tu.ˈkaɾ/ versus /tɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tocar" or "traçar" show up more?
"tocar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,662 in our Portuguese list, against #11,976 for "traçar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tocar" and "traçar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tocar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "traçar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,649 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tocar" and "traçar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "traçar vs travão". 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 #58,649 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