borrarvsburlarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,857
“borrar” frequency rank
#29,252
“burlar” frequency rank
71109
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature borrar burlar
Definition cobrir com bosta a eira terrosa, previamente à malha do cereal, para assim facilitar a lavoura. enganar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set borrar and burlar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
borrar
6 ch
burlar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. borrar (/bo.ˈraɾ/) and burlar (/buɾ.ˈlaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

borrar is recorded at frequency rank #41,857, classified as averb, pronounced /bo.ˈraɾ/. burlar is at rank #29,252, tagged as averb, pronounced /buɾ.ˈlaɾ/.

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 71109, this pair ranks #3,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of borrar vs burlar

Shared letters: abr. Private to "borrar": o. Private to "burlar": lu.

"borrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "burlar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • borrarbborrar · borarr · borrarr · borrra · brorar · obrrar
  • burlarbburlar · brular · bulrar · buralr · burlarr · burllar · burlra · burrlar

Frequency comparison

borrar#41,857
burlar#29,252

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "borrar" and "burlar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bo.ˈraɾ/ versus /buɾ.ˈlaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "borrar" or "burlar"?
"burlar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,252 in our Portuguese list, against #41,857 for "borrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering borrar vs burlar

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 “borrar” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list