Which to use
“dobrar” and “durar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,043
- “dobrar” frequency rank
- #5,293
- “durar” frequency rank
- 17336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dobrar | durar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dar a alguma coisa uma forma semelhante à de uma curva; fazer inclinar | não se gastar; |
Where the eye mixes dobrar and durar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dobrar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against durar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dobrar and durar
A purely visual mix-up. dobrar (/doˈbɾa(ʁ)/ [doˈbɾa(h)]) and durar (/du.ˈɾaɾ/) 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 17336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dobrar is recorded at frequency rank #12,043, classified as averb, pronounced /doˈbɾa(ʁ)/ [doˈbɾa(h)]. durar is at rank #5,293, tagged as averb, pronounced /du.ˈɾaɾ/.
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 17336, this pair ranks #53,938 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dobrar vs durar
Shared letters: adr. Private to "dobrar": bo. Private to "durar": u.
"dobrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "durar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dobrar" and "durar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dobrar" or "durar" show up more?
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 "dobrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,938 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dobrar" and "durar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dobrar vs domar". 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 #53,938 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.