Which to use
“construir” and “contrair” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,602
- “construir” frequency rank
- #22,925
- “contrair” frequency rank
- 24527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | construir | contrair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | juntar diferentes elementos para formar um todo, edificar | estreitar |
Where the eye mixes construir and contrair
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. construir runs 9 letters (CVCCCCVVC) against contrair's 8 (CVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between construir and contrair
A purely visual mix-up. construir (/kõʃ.tɾu.ˈiɾ/) and contrair (/kõ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
construir is recorded at frequency rank #1,602, classified as averb, pronounced /kõʃ.tɾu.ˈiɾ/. contrair is at rank #22,925, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/.
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 24527, this pair ranks #45,064 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of construir vs contrair
Shared letters: cinort. Private to "construir": su. Private to "contrair": a.
"construir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVC · "contrair" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "construir" for "contrair" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "construir" or "contrair" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "construir" and "contrair" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "construir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,064 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "construir" and "contrair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrair vs contrapor". 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 #45,064 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.