abrir vs arar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,038
“abrir” frequency rank: #46,176
“arar” frequency rank: 47214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	abrir	arar
Definition	levar de um estado fechado para um aberto, descerrar	lavrar (a terra) com arado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abrir and arar apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

abrir

4 ch

arar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abrir (/ɐ.ˈbɾiɾ/) and arar (/ɐ.ˈɾaɾ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abrir is recorded at frequency rank #1,038, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈbɾiɾ/. arar is at rank #46,176, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈɾaɾ/.

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 47214, this pair ranks #18,055 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abrir vs arar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "abrir": bi. Private to "arar": -.

"abrir" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "arar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

abrir ← abbrir · abirr · abrirr · abrri · abrrir · arbir · barir
arar ← aarr · ararr · arra · arrar · raar

Frequency comparison

abrir#1,038

arar#46,176

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abrir" and "arar" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "abrir" or "arar"?

"abrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,038 in our Portuguese list, against #46,176 for "arar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering abrir vs arar

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