alisar vs aplicar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#41,330
“alisar” frequency rank: #5,378
“aplicar” frequency rank: 46708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	alisar	aplicar
Definition	tornar liso	sobrepor, pôr sobre

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

alisar

7 ch

aplicar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alisar (/ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/) and aplicar (/ɐ.pli.ˈkaɾ/) 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 46708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alisar is recorded at frequency rank #41,330, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/. aplicar is at rank #5,378, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.pli.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 46708, this pair ranks #18,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alisar vs aplicar

Shared letters: ailr. Private to "alisar": s. Private to "aplicar": cp.

"alisar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "aplicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

alisar ← ailsar · aliasr · alisarr · alisra · alissar · allisar · alsiar · laisar
aplicar ← alpicar · apilcar · aplciar · apliacr · aplicarr · apliccar · aplicra · apllicar

Frequency comparison

alisar#41,330

aplicar#5,378

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alisar" and "aplicar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/ versus /ɐ.pli.ˈkaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "alisar" or "aplicar"?

"aplicar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,378 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.

Remembering alisar vs aplicar

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 “alisar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable