import vs importar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“import” is an adjective and “importar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,204
“import” frequency rank: #5,210
“importar” frequency rank: 35414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	import	importar
Definition	de importação	determinar que venha ou trazer de outro país

Letter map: import vs importar

Shared letters muted; letters that set import and importar apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

6 ch

import

8 ch

importar

Grammar separator: import vs importar

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: import is anadjective and importaraverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “import” sits inside “importar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

import is recorded at frequency rank #30,204, classified as anadj. importar is at rank #5,210, tagged as averb, pronounced /ĩ.puɾ.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 35414, this pair ranks #31,650 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of import vs importar

Shared letters: imoprt. Private to "import": -. Private to "importar": a.

"import" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "importar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

import ← immport · imoprt · imporrt · importt · impotr · impport · improt · ipmort
importar ← immportar · imoprtar · imporatr · imporrtar · importarr · importra · importtar · impotrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "import" and "importar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "import" is an adjective and "importar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "import" or "importar" show up more?

"importar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,210 in our Portuguese list, against #30,204 for "import". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "import" vs "importar" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "import" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "importar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #31,650 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"import" and "importar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "import vs impuro". 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 #31,650 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.