Which to use
“traçar” and “travar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,976
- “traçar” frequency rank
- #10,978
- “travar” frequency rank
- 22954
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | traçar | travar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | representar por meio de traços | fazer parar com o travão, frear |
Where the eye mixes traçar and travar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. traçar and travar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses traçar with travar
A purely visual mix-up. traçar (/tɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/) and travar (/tɾɐ.ˈvaɾ/) 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 - ç in “traçar” becomes v in “travar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
traçar is recorded at frequency rank #11,976, classified as averb, pronounced /tɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/. travar is at rank #10,978, tagged as averb, pronounced /tɾɐ.ˈvaɾ/.
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 22954, this pair ranks #46,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of traçar vs travar
Shared letters: art. Private to "traçar": ç. Private to "travar": v.
"traçar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "travar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- travar ← rtavar · tarvar · traavr · travarr · travra · travvar · trravar · trvaar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "traçar" for "travar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "traçar" vs "travar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "traçar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "travar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "traçar" and "travar" 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 #46,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.