afastarvsajustarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,955
“afastar” frequency rank
#12,602
“ajustar” frequency rank
16557
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature afastar ajustar
Definition transitivo: fazer pequeno conserto ou ajuste numa peça de vestuário

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set afastar and ajustar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
afastar
7 ch
ajustar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. afastar (/ɐ.fɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and ajustar (/ɐ.ʒuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 16557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

afastar is recorded at frequency rank #3,955, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.fɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/. ajustar is at rank #12,602, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ʒuʃ.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 16557, this pair ranks #54,936 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of afastar vs ajustar

Shared letters: arst. Private to "afastar": f. Private to "ajustar": ju.

"afastar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "ajustar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • afastaraafstar · afasatr · afasstar · afastarr · afastra · afasttar · afatsar · affastar
  • ajustarajjustar · ajsutar · ajusatr · ajusstar · ajustarr · ajustra · ajusttar · ajutsar

Frequency comparison

afastar#3,955
ajustar#12,602

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "afastar" and "ajustar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.fɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /ɐ.ʒuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "afastar" or "ajustar"?
"afastar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,955 in our Portuguese list, against #12,602 for "ajustar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering afastar vs ajustar

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 “afastar” 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