descansarvsdescontarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,464
“descansar” frequency rank
#22,272
“descontar” frequency rank
26736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descansar descontar
Definition proporcionar descanso a; livrar de fadiga: fazer desconto

Where the eye mixes descansar and descontar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descansar and descontar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
descansar
9 ch
descontar

Why the eye confuses descansar with descontar

A purely visual mix-up. descansar (/dɨʃ.kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ/) and descontar (/dɨʃ.kõ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 26736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descansar is recorded at frequency rank #4,464, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ/. descontar is at rank #22,272, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.kõ.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 26736, this pair ranks #42,355 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descansar vs descontar

Shared letters: acdenrs. Private to "descansar": -. Private to "descontar": ot.

"descansar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descontar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descansar ← ddescansar · decsansar · desacnsar · descanasr · descannsar · descansarr · descansra · descanssar
  • descontar ← ddescontar · decsontar · desccontar · descnotar · desconatr · desconntar · descontarr · descontra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "descansar" and "descontar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/dɨʃ.kɐ̃.ˈsaɾ/ versus /dɨʃ.kõ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "descansar" vs "descontar" - which ranks higher?
"descansar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,464 in our Portuguese list, against #22,272 for "descontar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "descansar" and "descontar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descansar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descontar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #42,355 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descansar" and "descontar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desapontar vs descontar". 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 #42,355 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