alastrar vs alistar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#49,784
“alastrar” frequency rank: #29,214
“alistar” frequency rank: 78998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	alastrar	alistar
Definition	carregar com lastro; lastrar	pôr em lista

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alastrar and alistar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

alastrar

7 ch

alistar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alastrar (/ɐ.lɐʃ.ˈtɾaɾ/) and alistar (/ɐ.liʃ.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 78998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alastrar is recorded at frequency rank #49,784, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.lɐʃ.ˈtɾaɾ/. alistar is at rank #29,214, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.liʃ.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 78998, this pair ranks #1,565 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alastrar vs alistar

Shared letters: alrst. Private to "alastrar": -. Private to "alistar": i.

"alastrar" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCCVC · "alistar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

alastrar ← aalstrar · alasrtar · alasstrar · alastarr · alastrarr · alastrra · alastrrar · alasttrar
alistar ← ailstar · alisatr · alisstar · alistarr · alistra · alisttar · alitsar · allistar

Frequency comparison

alastrar#49,784

alistar#29,214

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alastrar" and "alistar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.lɐʃ.ˈtɾaɾ/ versus /ɐ.liʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "alastrar" or "alistar"?

"alistar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,214 in our Portuguese list, against #49,784 for "alastrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alastrar vs alistar

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