altarvsararWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: altar is a noun, arar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“altar” is a noun and “arar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,141
“altar” frequency rank
#46,176
“arar” frequency rank
54317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature altar arar
Definition estrutura elevada perante a qual cerimônias religiosas são realizadas ou na qual sacrifícios podem ser oferecidos aos deuses, ancestrais, etc lavrar (a terra) com arado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set altar and arar apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
altar
4 ch
arar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: altar is anoun and araraverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

altar is recorded at frequency rank #8,141, classified as anoun. arar is at rank #46,176, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈɾaɾ/.

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 54317, this pair ranks #11,358 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of altar vs arar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "altar": lt. Private to "arar": -.

"altar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "arar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • altaralatr · alltar · altarr · altra · alttar · atlar · latar
  • araraarr · ararr · arra · arrar · raar

Frequency comparison

altar#8,141
arar#46,176

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "altar" and "arar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "altar" is a noun and "arar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "altar" or "arar"?
"altar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,141 in our Portuguese list, against #46,176 for "arar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering altar vs arar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “altar”; for a verb, it's “arar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “altar” 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