tomarvstoparConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#611
“tomar” frequency rank
#39,889
“topar” frequency rank
40500
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomar topar
Definition agarrar encontrar algo

Where the eye mixes tomar and topar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tomar
5 ch
topar

Look-alike desk: tomar vs topar

A purely visual mix-up. tomar (/tu.ˈmaɾ/) and topar (/tu.ˈpaɾ/) 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 a single letter - m in “tomar” becomes p in “topar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40500, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomar is recorded at frequency rank #611, classified as averb, pronounced /tu.ˈmaɾ/. topar is at rank #39,889, tagged as averb, pronounced /tu.ˈpaɾ/.

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 40500, this pair ranks #25,595 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tomar vs topar

Shared letters: aort. Private to "tomar": m. Private to "topar": p.

"tomar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "topar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomarotmar · tmoar · toamr · tomarr · tommar · tomra · ttomar
  • topartoapr · toparr · toppar · topra · tpoar · ttopar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tomar" and "topar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/tu.ˈmaɾ/ versus /tu.ˈpaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tomar" vs "topar" - which ranks higher?
"tomar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #611 in our Portuguese list, against #39,889 for "topar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tomar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "topar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,595 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomar" and "topar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "topar 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 #25,595 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