prestado vs prestar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“prestado” is an adjective and “prestar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,845
“prestado” frequency rank: #3,793
“prestar” frequency rank: 20638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	prestado	prestar
Definition	que se prestou	dedicar; dar com profunda afeição

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prestado and prestar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

prestado

7 ch

prestar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: prestado is anadjective and prestaraverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prestado is recorded at frequency rank #16,845, classified as anadj. prestar is at rank #3,793, tagged as averb.

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 20638, this pair ranks #49,821 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prestado vs prestar

Shared letters: aeprst. Private to "prestado": do. Private to "prestar": -.

"prestado" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV · "prestar" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

prestado ← perstado · pprestado · presatdo · presstado · prestaddo · prestaod · prestdao · presttado
prestar ← perstar · pprestar · presatr · presstar · prestarr · prestra · presttar · pretsar

Frequency comparison

prestado#16,845

prestar#3,793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prestado" and "prestar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prestado" is an adjective and "prestar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "prestado" or "prestar"?

"prestar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,793 in our Portuguese list, against #16,845 for "prestado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prestado vs prestar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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