abanarvsacabarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,979
“abanar” frequency rank
#841
“acabar” frequency rank
35820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abanar acabar
Definition agitar o ar com abano levar ao seu termo (levar a termo), perfazer, terminar, concluir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abanar and acabar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
abanar
6 ch
acabar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

abanar and acabar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abanar is recorded at frequency rank #34,979, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.bɐ.ˈnaɾ/. acabar is at rank #841, tagged as averb.

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 35820, this pair ranks #31,141 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abanar vs acabar

Shared letters: abr. Private to "abanar": n. Private to "acabar": c.

"abanar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "acabar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abanaraabnar · abaanr · abanarr · abannar · abanra · abbanar · abnaar · baanar
  • acabaraacbar · acaabr · acabarr · acabbar · acabra · acbaar · accabar · caabar

Frequency comparison

abanar#34,979
acabar#841

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abanar" and "acabar" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "abanar" or "acabar"?
"acabar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #841 in our Portuguese list, against #34,979 for "abanar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering abanar vs acabar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abanar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list