prolongadovsprolongarWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,657
“prolongado” frequency rank
#20,413
“prolongar” frequency rank
36070
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prolongado prolongar
Definition que se prolongou tornar mais longo; estender

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prolongado and prolongar apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
prolongado
9 ch
prolongar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prolongado is /pɾu.lõ.ˈɡa.du/ while prolongar is /pɾu.lõ.ˈɡaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prolongado is recorded at frequency rank #15,657, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɾu.lõ.ˈɡa.du/. prolongar is at rank #20,413, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɾu.lõ.ˈɡaɾ/.

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 36070, this pair ranks #30,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prolongado vs prolongar

Shared letters: aglnopr. Private to "prolongado": d. Private to "prolongar": -.

"prolongado" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCV  ·  "prolongar" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prolongadoporlongado · pprolongado · prloongado · prollongado · prolnogado · prolognado · prolonagdo · prolongaddo
  • prolongarporlongar · pprolongar · prloongar · prollongar · prolnogar · prolognar · prolonagr · prolongarr

Frequency comparison

prolongado#15,657
prolongar#20,413

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prolongado" and "prolongar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prolongado" is an adjective and "prolongar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prolongado" or "prolongar"?
"prolongado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,657 in our Portuguese list, against #20,413 for "prolongar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prolongado vs prolongar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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