Which to use
“ralo” and “rato” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,418
- “ralo” frequency rank
- #5,246
- “rato” frequency rank
- 25664
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ralo | rato |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pouco espesso, pouco denso | ratificado; de verdade comprovada |
Where the eye mixes ralo and rato
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ralo and rato
A purely visual mix-up. ralo (/ˈRa.lu/) and rato (/ˈRa.tu/) 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 a single letter - l in “ralo” becomes t in “rato”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25664, 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/. rato is at rank #5,246, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈRa.tu/.
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 25664, this pair ranks #43,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ralo vs rato
Shared letters: aor. Private to "ralo": l. Private to "rato": t.
"ralo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ralo" for "rato" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ralo" vs "rato" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ralo" and "rato" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ralo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ralo" and "rato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs ralo". 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 #43,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.