privadovsprivarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: privado is a adjective, privar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,700
“privado” frequency rank
#27,982
“privar” frequency rank
30682
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature privado privar
Definition que não é público tirar a propriedade de

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set privado and privar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
privado
6 ch
privar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: privado is anadjective and privaraverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

privado is recorded at frequency rank #2,700, classified as anadj. privar is at rank #27,982, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɾi.ˈvaɾ/.

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 30682, this pair ranks #37,599 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of privado vs privar

Shared letters: aiprv. Private to "privado": do. Private to "privar": -.

"privado" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "privar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • privadopirvado · pprivado · priavdo · privaddo · privaod · privdao · privvado · prrivado
  • privarpirvar · pprivar · priavr · privarr · privra · privvar · prrivar · prviar

Frequency comparison

privado#2,700
privar#27,982

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "privado" and "privar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "privado" is an adjective and "privar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "privado" or "privar"?
"privado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,700 in our Portuguese list, against #27,982 for "privar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering privado vs privar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “privado”; for a verb, it's “privar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “privado” 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