listenvslistraWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: listen is a verb, listra is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“listen” is a verb and “listra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,260
“listen” frequency rank
#49,564
“listra” frequency rank
77824
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature listen listra
Definition listar risca

Letter map: listen vs listra

Shared letters muted; letters that set listen and listra apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. listen (CVCCVC) and listra (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
listen
6 ch
listra

Grammar separator: listen vs listra

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: listen is averb and listraanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

listen is recorded at frequency rank #28,260, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪstn̩]. listra is at rank #49,564, 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 77824, this pair ranks #1,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of listen vs listra

Shared letters: ilst. Private to "listen": en. Private to "listra": ar.

"listen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "listra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • listen ← ilsten · lisetn · lissten · listenn · listne · listten · litsen · llisten
  • listra ← ilstra · lisrta · lisstra · listrra · listtra · litsra · llistra · lsitra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "listen" for "listra" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "listen" is a verb and "listra" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "listen" or "listra"?
"listen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,260 in our Portuguese list, against #49,564 for "listra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "listen" vs "listra" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "listen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "listra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "listen" and "listra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "listra vs lisura". 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 #1,792 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