namorarvsnamoravaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,440
“namorar” frequency rank
#31,885
“namorava” frequency rank
39325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature namorar namorava
Definition andar de namoro com primeira pessoa do singular do pretérito imperfeito do indicativo do verbo namorar

Where the eye mixes namorar and namorava

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. namorar runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against namorava's 8 (CVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
namorar
8 ch
namorava

Why the eye confuses namorar with namorava

A purely visual mix-up. namorar (/nɐ.mu.ˈɾaɾ/) and namorava (/nɐ.mo.ˈɾa.vɐ/) 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 39325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

namorar is recorded at frequency rank #7,440, classified as averb, pronounced /nɐ.mu.ˈɾaɾ/. namorava is at rank #31,885, tagged as averb, pronounced /nɐ.mo.ˈɾa.vɐ/.

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 39325, this pair ranks #26,952 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of namorar vs namorava

Shared letters: amnor. Private to "namorar": -. Private to "namorava": v.

"namorar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "namorava" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • namorar ← anmorar · nammorar · namoarr · namorarr · namorra · namorrar · namroar · naomrar
  • namorava ← anmorava · nammorava · namoarva · namoraav · namoravva · namorrava · namorvaa · namroava

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "namorar" for "namorava" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/nɐ.mu.ˈɾaɾ/ versus /nɐ.mo.ˈɾa.vɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "namorar" or "namorava" show up more?
"namorar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,440 in our Portuguese list, against #31,885 for "namorava". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "namorar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "namorava" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #26,952 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "namorar" and "namorava" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "namorada vs namorava". 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 #26,952 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