alegarvsalocarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#19,616
“alegar” frequency rank
#37,621
“alocar” frequency rank
57237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegar alocar
Definition citar destinar algo a um fim específico, utilizar

Where the eye mixes alegar and alocar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alegar and alocar 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
alocar

Visual trap between alegar and alocar

A purely visual mix-up. alegar (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and alocar (/ɐ.lu.ˈkaɾ/) 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 57237, 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/. alocar is at rank #37,621, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.lu.ˈkaɾ/.

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 57237, this pair ranks #9,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alegar vs alocar

Shared letters: alr. Private to "alegar": eg. Private to "alocar": co.

"alegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alocar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegaraelgar · aleagr · alegarr · aleggar · alegra · algear · allegar · laegar
  • alocaralcoar · allocar · aloacr · alocarr · aloccar · alocra · aolcar · laocar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alegar" for "alocar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /ɐ.lu.ˈkaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "alegar" or "alocar" show up more?
"alegar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,616 in our Portuguese list, against #37,621 for "alocar". 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 "alocar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegar" and "alocar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alocar vs aplacar". 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 #9,449 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