mirarvsmirraWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#27,178
“mirar” frequency rank
#49,042
“mirra” frequency rank
76220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mirar mirra
Definition olhar para algo árvore da África e Oriente Médio

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mirar and mirra apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mirar
5 ch
mirra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mirar is /mi.ˈɾaɾ/ while mirra is /ˈmi.Rɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ar ↔ ra) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mirar is recorded at frequency rank #27,178, classified as averb, pronounced /mi.ˈɾaɾ/. mirra is at rank #49,042, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmi.Rɐ/.

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 76220, this pair ranks #2,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mirar vs mirra

Shared letters: aimr. Private to "mirar": -. Private to "mirra": -.

"mirar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mirra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mirarimrar · miarr · mirarr · mirrar · mmirar · mriar
  • mirraimrra · mmirra · mrira

Frequency comparison

mirar#27,178
mirra#49,042

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mirar" and "mirra" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mirar" is a verb and "mirra" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mirar" or "mirra"?
"mirar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,178 in our Portuguese list, against #49,042 for "mirra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mirar vs mirra

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “mirar”; for a noun, it's “mirra”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mirar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list