barrarvsborrãoWhat's the difference?

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

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set barrar and borrão apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
barrar
6 ch
borrão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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": .

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barrarabrrar · bararr · barrarr · barrra · bbarrar · brarar

Frequency comparison

barrar#16,945
borrão#48,282

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barrar" and "borrão" be used interchangeably?
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.

Remembering barrar vs borrão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “barrar”; for a noun, it's “borrão”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “barrar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list