larvsleoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,089
“lar” frequency rank
#4,079
“leo” frequency rank
7168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lar leo
Definition residência, habitação leão

Where the eye mixes lar and leo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
lar
3 ch
leo

Visual trap between lar and leo

A purely visual mix-up. lar (/ˈlaɾ/) and leo (/ˈle.oː/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) 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 7168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lar is recorded at frequency rank #3,089, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaɾ/. leo is at rank #4,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈle.oː/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 7168, this pair ranks #67,032 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lar vs leo

Shared letters: l. Private to "lar": ar. Private to "leo": eo.

"lar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "leo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lar" for "leo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlaɾ/ versus /ˈle.oː/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lar" vs "leo" - which ranks higher?
"lar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,089 in our Portuguese list, against #4,079 for "leo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,032 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lar" and "leo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lar". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #67,032 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