Which to use
“aspas” is a noun and “assar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,062
- “aspas” frequency rank
- #22,870
- “assar” frequency rank
- 41932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aspas | assar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o mesmo que asa (caixilhos) | cozinhar em seco, diretamente sobre o fogo ou no forno |
Where the eye mixes aspas and assar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. aspas and assar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: aspas vs assar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aspas is /ˈaʃ.pɐʃ/ while assar is /ɐ.ˈsaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aspas is recorded at frequency rank #19,062, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʃ.pɐʃ/. assar is at rank #22,870, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈsaɾ/.
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 41932, this pair ranks #23,915 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aspas vs assar
Shared letters: as. Private to "aspas": p. Private to "assar": r.
"aspas" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "assar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aspas" for "assar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aspas" vs "assar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aspas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "assar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,915 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aspas" and "assar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "assar vs atar". 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 #23,915 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.