arrancar vs arrastar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#8,422
“arrancar” frequency rank: #13,442
“arrastar” frequency rank: 21864
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	arrancar	arrastar
Definition	tirar da terra	puxar atrás de si, geralmente com dificuldade, fazendo que deslize pelo chão

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arrancar and arrastar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

arrancar

8 ch

arrastar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. arrancar (/ɐ.Rɐ̃.ˈkaɾ/) and arrastar (/ɐ.Rɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arrancar is recorded at frequency rank #8,422, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.Rɐ̃.ˈkaɾ/. arrastar is at rank #13,442, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.Rɐʃ.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 21864, this pair ranks #48,292 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arrancar vs arrastar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "arrancar": cn. Private to "arrastar": st.

"arrancar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "arrastar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

arrancar ← arancar · ararncar · arracnar · arranacr · arrancarr · arranccar · arrancra · arranncar
arrastar ← ararstar · arastar · arrasatr · arrasstar · arrastarr · arrastra · arrasttar · arratsar

Frequency comparison

arrancar#8,422

arrastar#13,442

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arrancar" and "arrastar" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "arrancar" or "arrastar"?

"arrancar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,422 in our Portuguese list, against #13,442 for "arrastar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arrancar vs arrastar

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