Which to use
“adotar” and “afogar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,258
- “adotar” frequency rank
- #15,247
- “afogar” frequency rank
- 21505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adotar | afogar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | assumir para si a responsabilidade jurídica de criar (criança ou adolescente): | matar alguém por afogamento, asfixia ou estrangulamento |
Where the eye mixes adotar and afogar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: adotar vs afogar
A purely visual mix-up. adotar (/ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/) and afogar (/ɐ.fu.ˈɡaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21505, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adotar is recorded at frequency rank #6,258, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/. afogar is at rank #15,247, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.fu.ˈɡaɾ/.
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 21505, this pair ranks #48,727 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of adotar vs afogar
Shared letters: aor. Private to "adotar": dt. Private to "afogar": fg.
"adotar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "afogar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adotar" for "afogar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "adotar" or "afogar" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "adotar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "afogar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,727 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adotar" and "afogar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afogar vs alojar". 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 #48,727 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.