agradar vs arrasar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#6,731
“agradar” frequency rank: #13,220
“arrasar” frequency rank: 19951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	agradar	arrasar
Definition	alisar o terreno com grade; gradar; desterroar	tornar raso, nivelar

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

agradar

7 ch

arrasar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. agradar (/ɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/) and arrasar (/ɐ.Rɐ.ˈzaɾ/) 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 19951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agradar is recorded at frequency rank #6,731, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/. arrasar is at rank #13,220, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.Rɐ.ˈzaɾ/.

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 19951, this pair ranks #50,658 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of agradar vs arrasar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "agradar": dg. Private to "arrasar": s.

"agradar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "arrasar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

agradar ← agardar · aggradar · agraadr · agradarr · agraddar · agradra · agrdaar · agrradar
arrasar ← ararsar · arasar · arraasr · arrasarr · arrasra · arrassar · arrsaar · rarasar

Frequency comparison

agradar#6,731

arrasar#13,220

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "agradar" and "arrasar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/ versus /ɐ.Rɐ.ˈzaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "agradar" or "arrasar"?

"agradar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,731 in our Portuguese list, against #13,220 for "arrasar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering agradar vs arrasar

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 “agradar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable