barrarvsborrãoConfusable pair

Quick tell: barrar is a verb, borrão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,945
“barrar” frequency rank
#48,282
“borrão” frequency rank
65227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barrar borrão
Definition atravessar com barras sujidade

Letter map: barrar vs borrão

Shared letters muted; letters that set barrar and borrão apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. barrar (CVCCVC) and borrão (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
barrar
6 ch
borrão

Grammar separator: barrar vs borrão

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: barrar is averb and borrãoanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barrar is recorded at frequency rank #16,945, classified as averb. borrão is at rank #48,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bu.ˈRɐ̃w̃/.

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 65227, this pair ranks #5,471 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of barrar vs borrão

Shared letters: br. Private to "barrar": a. Private to "borrão": oã.

"barrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "borrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barrar ← abrrar · bararr · barrarr · barrra · bbarrar · brarar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "barrar" and "borrão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "barrar" is a verb and "borrão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "barrar" or "borrão"?
"barrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,945 in our Portuguese list, against #48,282 for "borrão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "barrar" vs "borrão" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "barrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "borrão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,471 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barrar" and "borrão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "borrão vs borrego". 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 #5,471 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