adoptarvsadotarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#22,510
“adoptar” frequency rank
#6,258
“adotar” frequency rank
28768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adoptar adotar
Definition adotar assumir para si a responsabilidade jurídica de criar (criança ou adolescente):

Where the eye mixes adoptar and adotar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. adoptar runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against adotar's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
adoptar
6 ch
adotar

Visual trap between adoptar and adotar

A purely visual mix-up. adoptar (/a.dɔp.ˈtar/) and adotar (/ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/) 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 28768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adoptar is recorded at frequency rank #22,510, classified as averb, pronounced /a.dɔp.ˈtar/. adotar is at rank #6,258, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/.

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 28768, this pair ranks #40,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of adoptar vs adotar

Shared letters: adort. Private to "adoptar": p. Private to "adotar": -.

"adoptar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "adotar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adoptar ← addoptar · adopatr · adopptar · adoptarr · adoptra · adopttar · adotpar · adpotar
  • adotar ← addotar · adoatr · adotarr · adotra · adottar · adtoar · aodtar · daotar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "adoptar" and "adotar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/a.dɔp.ˈtar/ versus /ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adoptar" or "adotar"?
"adotar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,258 in our Portuguese list, against #22,510 for "adoptar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adoptar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adotar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adoptar" and "adotar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adotar vs arrotar". 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 #40,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list