ararvsatearWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,176
“arar” frequency rank
#38,140
“atear” frequency rank
84316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arar atear
Definition lavrar (a terra) com arado lançar fogo a

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
arar
5 ch
atear

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. arar (/ɐ.ˈɾaɾ/) and atear (/ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/) 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 84316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arar is recorded at frequency rank #46,176, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈɾaɾ/. atear is at rank #38,140, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/.

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 84316, this pair ranks #805 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of arar vs atear

Shared letters: ar. Private to "arar": -. Private to "atear": et.

"arar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "atear" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • araraarr · ararr · arra · arrar · raar
  • atearaetar · ataer · atearr · atera · attear · taear

Frequency comparison

arar#46,176
atear#38,140

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arar" and "atear" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ˈɾaɾ/ versus /ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "arar" or "atear"?
"atear" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,140 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 arar vs atear

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 “arar” 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