apurarvsararWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,390
“apurar” frequency rank
#46,176
“arar” frequency rank
57566
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apurar arar
Definition tornar puro; purificar; (por extensão) acrescentar e/ou suprimir características, de forma a melhorar: lavrar (a terra) com arado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set apurar and arar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
apurar
4 ch
arar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

apurar and arar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apurar is recorded at frequency rank #11,390, classified as averb. 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 57566, this pair ranks #9,262 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apurar vs arar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "apurar": pu. Private to "arar": -.

"apurar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "arar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apurarappurar · apruar · apuarr · apurarr · apurra · apurrar · auprar · paurar
  • araraarr · ararr · arra · arrar · raar

Frequency comparison

apurar#11,390
arar#46,176

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apurar" and "arar" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "apurar" or "arar"?
"apurar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,390 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 apurar vs arar

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 “apurar” 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