arranjarvsarrastarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,503
“arranjar” frequency rank
#13,442
“arrastar” frequency rank
19945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arranjar arrastar
Definition transitivo puxar atrás de si, geralmente com dificuldade, fazendo que deslize pelo chão

Where the eye mixes arranjar and arrastar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arranjar and arrastar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
arranjar
8 ch
arrastar

Why the eye confuses arranjar with arrastar

A purely visual mix-up. arranjar (/ɐ.Rɐ̃.ˈʒaɾ/) 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 19945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arranjar is recorded at frequency rank #6,503, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.Rɐ̃.ˈʒaɾ/. 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 19945, this pair ranks #50,670 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arranjar vs arrastar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "arranjar": jn. Private to "arrastar": st.

"arranjar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "arrastar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arranjararanjar · ararnjar · arrajnar · arranajr · arranjarr · arranjjar · arranjra · arrannjar
  • arrastarararstar · arastar · arrasatr · arrasstar · arrastarr · arrastra · arrasttar · arratsar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "arranjar" for "arrastar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.Rɐ̃.ˈʒaɾ/ versus /ɐ.Rɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "arranjar" or "arrastar" show up more?
"arranjar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,503 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.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "arranjar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arrastar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,670 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arranjar" and "arrastar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrastar vs arrotar". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #50,670 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list