alegarvsalisarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,616
“alegar” frequency rank
#41,330
“alisar” frequency rank
60946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegar alisar
Definition citar tornar liso

Where the eye mixes alegar and alisar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alegar and alisar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
alegar
6 ch
alisar

Visual trap between alegar and alisar

A purely visual mix-up. alegar (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and alisar (/ɐ.li.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 60946, 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/. alisar is at rank #41,330, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.li.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 60946, this pair ranks #7,393 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alegar vs alisar

Shared letters: alr. Private to "alegar": eg. Private to "alisar": is.

"alegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alisar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegar ← aelgar · aleagr · alegarr · aleggar · alegra · algear · allegar · laegar
  • alisar ← ailsar · aliasr · alisarr · alisra · alissar · allisar · alsiar · laisar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alegar" and "alisar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alegar" vs "alisar" - which ranks higher?
"alegar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,616 in our Portuguese list, against #41,330 for "alisar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alisar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,393 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegar" and "alisar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alçar vs alisar". 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 #7,393 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