burlavsburraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,223
“burla” frequency rank
#12,384
“burra” frequency rank
57607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature burla burra
Definition ação de burlar engenho para tirar água de um poço

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
burla
5 ch
burra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. burla (/ˈbuɾ.lɐ/) and burra (/ˈbu.xɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - l in “burla” becomes r in “burra”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

burla is recorded at frequency rank #45,223, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbuɾ.lɐ/. burra is at rank #12,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbu.xɐ/.

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 57607, this pair ranks #9,234 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of burla vs burra

Shared letters: abru. Private to "burla": l. Private to "burra": -.

"burla" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "burra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • burlabburla · brula · bulra · bural · burlla · burrla · ubrla
  • burrabburra · brura · bura · burar · ubrra

Frequency comparison

burla#45,223
burra#12,384

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "burla" and "burra" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbuɾ.lɐ/ versus /ˈbu.xɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "burla" or "burra"?
"burra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,384 in our Portuguese list, against #45,223 for "burla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering burla vs burra

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 “burla” 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