racharvsralarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,522
“rachar” frequency rank
#41,206
“ralar” frequency rank
72728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rachar ralar
Definition dividir em rachas fazer passar pelo ralador; triturar; esmagar; moer

Where the eye mixes rachar and ralar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
rachar
5 ch
ralar

Look-alike desk: rachar vs ralar

A purely visual mix-up. rachar (/Rɐ.ˈʃaɾ/) and ralar (/Rɐ.ˈlaɾ/) 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 72728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rachar is recorded at frequency rank #31,522, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɐ.ˈʃaɾ/. ralar is at rank #41,206, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɐ.ˈlaɾ/.

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 72728, this pair ranks #2,971 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rachar vs ralar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "rachar": ch. Private to "ralar": l.

"rachar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "ralar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rachararchar · racahr · racchar · racharr · rachhar · rachra · rahcar · rcahar
  • ralararlar · raalr · ralarr · rallar · ralra · rlaar · rralar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rachar" for "ralar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/Rɐ.ˈʃaɾ/ versus /Rɐ.ˈlaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rachar" vs "ralar" - which ranks higher?
"rachar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,522 in our Portuguese list, against #41,206 for "ralar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rachar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ralar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,971 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rachar" and "ralar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ralar vs rimar". 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 #2,971 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