ralarvsregarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,206
“ralar” frequency rank
#27,639
“regar” frequency rank
68845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ralar regar
Definition fazer passar pelo ralador; triturar; esmagar; moer molhar as plantas, terra, etc

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
ralar
5 ch
regar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ralar (/Rɐ.ˈlaɾ/) and regar (/Rɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) 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 68845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ralar is recorded at frequency rank #41,206, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɐ.ˈlaɾ/. regar is at rank #27,639, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.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 68845, this pair ranks #4,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ralar vs regar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "ralar": l. Private to "regar": eg.

"ralar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "regar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ralararlar · raalr · ralarr · rallar · ralra · rlaar · rralar
  • regarergar · reagr · regarr · reggar · rgear · rregar

Frequency comparison

ralar#41,206
regar#27,639

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ralar" and "regar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/Rɐ.ˈlaɾ/ versus /Rɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ralar" or "regar"?
"regar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,639 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.

Remembering ralar vs regar

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 “ralar” 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