alegarvsalienarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,616
“alegar” frequency rank
#38,979
“alienar” frequency rank
58595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegar alienar
Definition citar (prep. a, para) transferir legitimamente para outrem a propriedade, o direito ou o domínio que tem sobre algo

Where the eye mixes alegar and alienar

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

6 ch
alegar
7 ch
alienar

Look-alike desk: alegar vs alienar

A purely visual mix-up. alegar (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and alienar (/ɐ.lje.ˈnaɾ/) 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 58595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegar is recorded at frequency rank #19,616, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. alienar is at rank #38,979, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.lje.ˈnaɾ/.

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 58595, this pair ranks #8,655 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alegar vs alienar

Shared letters: aelr. Private to "alegar": g. Private to "alienar": in.

"alegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alienar" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegaraelgar · aleagr · alegarr · aleggar · alegra · algear · allegar · laegar
  • alienarailenar · aleinar · alieanr · alienarr · aliennar · alienra · alinear · allienar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alegar" and "alienar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /ɐ.lje.ˈnaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alegar" vs "alienar" - which ranks higher?
"alegar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,616 in our Portuguese list, against #38,979 for "alienar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alienar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,655 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegar" and "alienar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afinar vs alienar". 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 #8,655 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