Which to use
“abalar” and “abanar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,655
- “abalar” frequency rank
- #34,979
- “abanar” frequency rank
- 51634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abalar | abanar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fazer tremer ou oscilar | agitar o ar com abano |
Where the eye mixes abalar and abanar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abalar and abanar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abalar with abanar
A purely visual mix-up. abalar (/ɐ.bɐ.ˈlaɾ/) and abanar (/ɐ.bɐ.ˈnaɾ/) 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 - l in “abalar” becomes n in “abanar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abalar is recorded at frequency rank #16,655, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.bɐ.ˈlaɾ/. abanar is at rank #34,979, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.bɐ.ˈnaɾ/.
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 51634, this pair ranks #13,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abalar vs abanar
Shared letters: abr. Private to "abalar": l. Private to "abanar": n.
"abalar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "abanar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abalar" for "abanar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abalar" vs "abanar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abalar" and "abanar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abalar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abanar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abalar" and "abanar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abanar vs abarcar". 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 #13,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.