Which to use
“alegar” and “apegar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,616
- “alegar” frequency rank
- #32,459
- “apegar” frequency rank
- 52075
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alegar | apegar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | citar | fazer sentir ou sentir apego; afeiçoar-se |
Where the eye mixes alegar and apegar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alegar and apegar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses alegar with apegar
A purely visual mix-up. alegar (/ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and apegar (/ɐ.pɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) 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 a single letter - l in “alegar” becomes p in “apegar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52075, 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/. apegar is at rank #32,459, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.pɨ.ˈɡaɾ/.
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 52075, this pair ranks #13,058 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alegar vs apegar
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "alegar": l. Private to "apegar": p.
"alegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "apegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alegar" for "apegar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "alegar" vs "apegar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "apegar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,058 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alegar" and "apegar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aparar vs apegar". 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 #13,058 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.