barra vs barrar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“barra” is a noun and “barrar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,355
“barra” frequency rank: #16,945
“barrar” frequency rank: 19300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	barra	barrar
Definition	peça larga de metal ou outro material, via de regra de forma cilíndrica ou prismática	atravessar com barras

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

barra

6 ch

barrar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: barra is anoun and barraraverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “barra” sits inside “barrar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barra is recorded at frequency rank #2,355, classified as anoun. barrar is at rank #16,945, tagged as averb.

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 19300, this pair ranks #51,450 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of barra vs barrar

Shared letters: abr. Private to "barra": -. Private to "barrar": -.

"barra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "barrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

barra ← abrra · bara · barar · bbarra · brara
barrar ← abrrar · bararr · barrarr · barrra · bbarrar · brarar

Frequency comparison

barra#2,355

barrar#16,945

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barra" and "barrar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "barra" is a noun and "barrar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "barra" or "barrar"?

"barra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,355 in our Portuguese list, against #16,945 for "barrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering barra vs barrar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “barra”; for a verb, it's “barrar”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “barra” entry
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