aliarvsalistarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,190
“aliar” frequency rank
#29,214
“alistar” frequency rank
49404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aliar alistar
Definition fazer ligação de pôr em lista

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aliar and alistar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aliar
7 ch
alistar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aliar (/ɐ.ˈljaɾ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aliar is recorded at frequency rank #20,190, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈljaɾ/. 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 49404, this pair ranks #15,601 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aliar vs alistar

Shared letters: ailr. Private to "aliar": -. Private to "alistar": st.

"aliar" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC  ·  "alistar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aliarailar · alair · aliarr · alira · alliar · laiar
  • alistarailstar · alisatr · alisstar · alistarr · alistra · alisttar · alitsar · allistar

Frequency comparison

aliar#20,190
alistar#29,214

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aliar" and "alistar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ˈljaɾ/ versus /ɐ.liʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aliar" or "alistar"?
"aliar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,190 in our Portuguese list, against #29,214 for "alistar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aliar 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 “aliar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list