Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.
Quick answer
Criticar evaluates negatively. Reclamar complains about a problem.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
What each word does
criticar
to criticize
Use criticar for pointing out problems, judging, or giving negative assessment.
reclamar
to complain
Use reclamar for expressing dissatisfaction, protesting, or making a complaint.
How to choose
- criticar: Choose criticar if the sentence points to pointing out problems, judging, or giving negative assessment.
- reclamar: Choose reclamar if the sentence points to expressing dissatisfaction, protesting, or making a complaint.
Examples
Ele criticou a proposta.
He criticized the proposal.
Ela reclamou do barulho.
She complained about the noise.
Common trap
Reclamar usually takes de about the thing bothering you.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with criticar, then once with reclamar. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.