ralo vs rasgo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ralo” is an adjective and “rasgo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,418
“ralo” frequency rank: #35,752
“rasgo” frequency rank: 56170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ralo	rasgo
Definition	pouco espesso, pouco denso	seccionamento parcial ou total da superfície de um corpo ou objeto; interrupção abrupta na continuidade daquela superfície

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

ralo

5 ch

rasgo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ralo is /ˈRa.lu/ while rasgo is /ˈRaʒ.ɡu/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ralo is recorded at frequency rank #20,418, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈRa.lu/. rasgo is at rank #35,752, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈRaʒ.ɡu/.

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 56170, this pair ranks #10,127 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ralo vs rasgo

Shared letters: aor. Private to "ralo": l. Private to "rasgo": gs.

"ralo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rasgo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

ralo ← arlo · rallo · raol · rlao · rralo
rasgo ← arsgo · ragso · rasggo · rasog · rassgo · rrasgo · rsago

Frequency comparison

ralo#20,418

rasgo#35,752

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ralo" and "rasgo" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "ralo" or "rasgo"?

"ralo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,418 in our Portuguese list, against #35,752 for "rasgo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ralo vs rasgo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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