Which to use
“afastar” and “arrastar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,955
- “afastar” frequency rank
- #13,442
- “arrastar” frequency rank
- 17397
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | afastar | arrastar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | transitivo: | puxar atrás de si, geralmente com dificuldade, fazendo que deslize pelo chão |
Where the eye mixes afastar and arrastar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. afastar runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against arrastar's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: afastar vs arrastar
A purely visual mix-up. afastar (/ɐ.fɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and arrastar (/ɐ.Rɐʃ.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17397, 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/. arrastar is at rank #13,442, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.Rɐʃ.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 17397, this pair ranks #53,849 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of afastar vs arrastar
Shared letters: arst. Private to "afastar": f. Private to "arrastar": -.
"afastar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "arrastar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "afastar" and "arrastar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "afastar" vs "arrastar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "afastar" and "arrastar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "afastar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrastar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,849 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "afastar" and "arrastar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrastar 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 #53,849 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.