arrastar vs atrasar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#13,442
“arrastar” frequency rank: #10,137
“atrasar” frequency rank: 23579
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	arrastar	atrasar
Definition	puxar atrás de si, geralmente com dificuldade, fazendo que deslize pelo chão	induzir a demora ou o adiamento de algo

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch

arrastar

7 ch

atrasar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. arrastar (/ɐ.Rɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and atrasar (/a.tɾaˈza(ʁ)/) 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 23579, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arrastar is recorded at frequency rank #13,442, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.Rɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/. atrasar is at rank #10,137, tagged as averb, pronounced /a.tɾaˈza(ʁ)/.

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 23579, this pair ranks #46,228 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arrastar vs atrasar

Shared letters: arst. Private to "arrastar": -. Private to "atrasar": -.

"arrastar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "atrasar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

arrastar ← ararstar · arastar · arrasatr · arrasstar · arrastarr · arrastra · arrasttar · arratsar
atrasar ← artasar · atarsar · atraasr · atrasarr · atrasra · atrassar · atrrasar · atrsaar

Frequency comparison

arrastar#13,442

atrasar#10,137

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"atrasar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,137 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 arrastar vs atrasar

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