obra vs orla, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#702
“obra” frequency rank: #11,924
“orla” frequency rank: 12626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	obra	orla
Definition	resultado de uma ação ou de um trabalho	margem

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set obra and orla apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

obra

4 ch

orla

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. obra (/ˈɔ.bɾɐ/) and orla (/ˈɔɾ.lɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obra is recorded at frequency rank #702, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔ.bɾɐ/. orla is at rank #11,924, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔɾ.lɐ/.

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 12626, this pair ranks #59,902 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of obra vs orla

Shared letters: aor. Private to "obra": b. Private to "orla": l.

"obra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "orla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

obra ← obar · obbra · obrra · orba
orla ← olra · orlla · orrla

Frequency comparison

obra#702

orla#11,924

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obra" and "orla" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈɔ.bɾɐ/ versus /ˈɔɾ.lɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "obra" or "orla"?

"obra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #702 in our Portuguese list, against #11,924 for "orla". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering obra vs orla

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “obra” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable