Which to use
“lavar” and “livrar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,336
- “lavar” frequency rank
- #5,550
- “livrar” frequency rank
- 8886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lavar | livrar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | limpar (algo) por ação de um líquido, especialmente água | tornar livre |
Where the eye mixes lavar and livrar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lavar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against livrar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lavar with livrar
A purely visual mix-up. lavar (/lɐ.ˈvaɾ/) and livrar (/li.ˈvɾaɾ/) 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 8886, 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/. livrar is at rank #5,550, tagged as averb, pronounced /li.ˈvɾaɾ/.
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 8886, this pair ranks #64,737 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lavar vs livrar
Shared letters: alrv. Private to "lavar": -. Private to "livrar": i.
"lavar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "livrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lavar" and "livrar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lavar" or "livrar" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lavar" and "livrar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lavar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "livrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,737 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lavar" and "livrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lavar". 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 #64,737 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.