derrota vs derrotar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“derrota” is a noun and “derrotar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,830
“derrota” frequency rank: #7,137
“derrotar” frequency rank: 9967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	derrota	derrotar
Definition	destroço, desbarato de tropas; revés	vencer os adversários numa competição

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set derrota and derrotar apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

derrota

8 ch

derrotar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derrota is /dɨ.ˈRɔ.tɐ/ while derrotar is /dɨ.Ru.ˈtaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “derrota” sits inside “derrotar”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

derrota is recorded at frequency rank #2,830, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ˈRɔ.tɐ/. derrotar is at rank #7,137, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.Ru.ˈtaɾ/.

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 9967, this pair ranks #63,281 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of derrota vs derrotar

Shared letters: adeort. Private to "derrota": -. Private to "derrotar": -.

"derrota" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "derrotar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

derrota ← dderrota · derorta · derota · derroat · derrotta · derrtoa · drerota · edrrota
derrotar ← dderrotar · derortar · derotar · derroatr · derrotarr · derrotra · derrottar · derrtoar

Frequency comparison

derrota#2,830

derrotar#7,137

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "derrota" and "derrotar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "derrota" is a noun and "derrotar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "derrota" or "derrotar"?

"derrota" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,830 in our Portuguese list, against #7,137 for "derrotar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering derrota vs derrotar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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