atirar vs atrair, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#6,264
“atirar” frequency rank: #4,205
“atrair” frequency rank: 10469
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	atirar	atrair
Definition	lançar um projétil contra um alvo ou pessoa	puxar para usando de charme, persuasão, etc

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set atirar and atrair apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

atirar

6 ch

atrair

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. atirar (/ɐ.ti.ˈɾaɾ/) and atrair (/ɐ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atirar is recorded at frequency rank #6,264, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ti.ˈɾaɾ/. atrair is at rank #4,205, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/.

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 10469, this pair ranks #62,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of atirar vs atrair

Shared letters: airt. Private to "atirar": -. Private to "atrair": -.

"atirar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "atrair" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

atirar ← aitrar · atiarr · atirarr · atirra · atirrar · attirar · tairar
atrair ← artair · atarir · atrairr · atrari · atriar · atrrair · attrair · tarair

Frequency comparison

atirar#6,264

atrair#4,205

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "atirar" and "atrair" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ti.ˈɾaɾ/ versus /ɐ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "atirar" or "atrair"?

"atrair" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,205 in our Portuguese list, against #6,264 for "atirar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering atirar vs atrair

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