Which to use
“lavar” is a verb and “lavra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,336
- “lavar” frequency rank
- #40,647
- “lavra” frequency rank
- 43983
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lavar | lavra |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | limpar (algo) por ação de um líquido, especialmente água | lavoura |
Letter map: lavar vs lavra
Shared letters muted; letters that set lavar and lavra apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. lavar (CVCVC) and lavra (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: lavar vs lavra
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lavar is averb and lavraanoun. On the page they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ar ↔ ra) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lavar is recorded at frequency rank #3,336, classified as averb, pronounced /lɐ.ˈvaɾ/. lavra is at rank #40,647, tagged as anoun.
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 43983, this pair ranks #21,584 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lavar vs lavra
Shared letters: alrv. Private to "lavar": -. Private to "lavra": -.
"lavar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lavra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lavar" for "lavra" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lavar" or "lavra" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lavar" and "lavra".
- Full dictionary entry for "lavar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lavra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,584 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lavar" and "lavra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lavra". 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 #21,584 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.