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
Tachar attaches a judgmental label. Taxar attaches a tax or rate.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
What each word does
tachar
to label or accuse
Use tachar for assigning a usually negative quality or judgment to someone or something.
taxar
to tax or set a rate
Use taxar for imposing a tax, fee, price, or officially fixed rate.
How to choose
- tachar: Choose tachar if the sentence points to assigning a usually negative quality or judgment to someone or something.
- taxar: Choose taxar if the sentence points to imposing a tax, fee, price, or officially fixed rate.
Examples
Os críticos tacharam a proposta de imprudente.
Critics labeled the proposal reckless.
O município decidiu taxar imóveis vazios.
The municipality decided to tax vacant properties.
Common trap
Use tachar de before the attributed quality. Modern usage sometimes blurs the spellings, but the semantic distinction keeps formal prose precise.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with tachar, then once with taxar. 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.