afogarvsalongarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,247
“afogar” frequency rank
#37,178
“alongar” frequency rank
52425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature afogar alongar
Definition matar alguém por afogamento, asfixia ou estrangulamento tornar mais longo

Where the eye mixes afogar and alongar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
afogar
7 ch
alongar

Look-alike desk: afogar vs alongar

A purely visual mix-up. afogar (/ɐ.fu.ˈɡaɾ/) and alongar (/ɐ.lõ.ˈɡaɾ/) 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 52425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

afogar is recorded at frequency rank #15,247, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.fu.ˈɡaɾ/. alongar is at rank #37,178, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.lõ.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 52425, this pair ranks #12,767 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of afogar vs alongar

Shared letters: agor. Private to "afogar": f. Private to "alongar": ln.

"afogar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alongar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • afogaraffogar · afgoar · afoagr · afogarr · afoggar · afogra · aofgar · faogar
  • alongarallongar · alnogar · alognar · alonagr · alongarr · alonggar · alongra · alonngar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "afogar" and "alongar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.fu.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /ɐ.lõ.ˈɡaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "afogar" or "alongar"?
"afogar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,247 in our Portuguese list, against #37,178 for "alongar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "afogar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alongar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,767 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "afogar" and "alongar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alojar vs alongar". 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 #12,767 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