deitarvsdeixarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,183
“deitar” frequency rank
#309
“deixar” frequency rank
5492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deitar deixar
Definition colocar na cama soltar algo

Where the eye mixes deitar and deixar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
deitar
6 ch
deixar

Why the eye confuses deitar with deixar

A purely visual mix-up. deitar (/dɐj.ˈtaɾ/) and deixar (/dɐj.ˈʃaɾ/) 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 - t in “deitar” becomes x in “deixar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deitar is recorded at frequency rank #5,183, classified as averb, pronounced /dɐj.ˈtaɾ/. deixar is at rank #309, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɐj.ˈʃaɾ/.

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 5492, this pair ranks #69,109 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deitar vs deixar

Shared letters: adeir. Private to "deitar": t. Private to "deixar": x.

"deitar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "deixar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deitarddeitar · deiatr · deitarr · deitra · deittar · detiar · dietar
  • deixarddeixar · deiaxr · deixarr · deixra · deixxar · dexiar · diexar · edixar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "deitar" for "deixar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/dɐj.ˈtaɾ/ versus /dɐj.ˈʃaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "deitar" vs "deixar" - which ranks higher?
"deixar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #309 in our Portuguese list, against #5,183 for "deitar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deixar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,109 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deitar" and "deixar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deitar vs desatar". 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 #69,109 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