abordar vs abortar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#7,994
“abordar” frequency rank: #20,175
“abortar” frequency rank: 28169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	abordar	abortar
Definition	dar detalhes sobre determinado assunto	produzir antes do tempo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abordar and abortar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

abordar

7 ch

abortar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abordar (/ɐ.buɾ.ˈdaɾ/) and abortar (/ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 - d in “abordar” becomes t in “abortar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abordar is recorded at frequency rank #7,994, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.buɾ.ˈdaɾ/. abortar is at rank #20,175, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 28169, this pair ranks #40,684 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abordar vs abortar

Shared letters: abor. Private to "abordar": d. Private to "abortar": t.

"abordar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "abortar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

abordar ← abbordar · abodrar · aboradr · abordarr · aborddar · abordra · aborrdar · abrodar
abortar ← abbortar · aboratr · aborrtar · abortarr · abortra · aborttar · abotrar · abrotar

Frequency comparison

abordar#7,994

abortar#20,175

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abordar" and "abortar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.buɾ.ˈdaɾ/ versus /ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "abordar" or "abortar"?

"abordar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,994 in our Portuguese list, against #20,175 for "abortar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abordar vs abortar

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 “abordar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable