Which to use
“afogar” and “apoiar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,247
- “afogar” frequency rank
- #2,662
- “apoiar” frequency rank
- 17909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | afogar | apoiar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | matar alguém por afogamento, asfixia ou estrangulamento | dar apoio a; aprovar |
Where the eye mixes afogar and apoiar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: afogar vs apoiar
A purely visual mix-up. afogar (/ɐ.fu.ˈɡaɾ/) and apoiar (/ɐ.poj.ˈaɾ/) 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 17909, 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/. apoiar is at rank #2,662, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.poj.ˈaɾ/.
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 17909, this pair ranks #53,215 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of afogar vs apoiar
Shared letters: aor. Private to "afogar": fg. Private to "apoiar": ip.
"afogar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "apoiar" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "afogar" and "apoiar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "afogar" or "apoiar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "afogar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apoiar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,215 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "afogar" and "apoiar" 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 #53,215 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.