Which to use
“ralo” and “real” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,418
- “ralo” frequency rank
- #454
- “real” frequency rank
- 20872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ralo | real |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pouco espesso, pouco denso | que de fato existe, isto é, não é imaginário |
Where the eye mixes ralo and real
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ralo and real
A purely visual mix-up. ralo (/ˈRa.lu/) and real (/ˈRjaɫ/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20872, 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/. real is at rank #454, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈRjaɫ/.
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 20872, this pair ranks #49,542 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ralo vs real
Shared letters: alr. Private to "ralo": o. Private to "real": e.
"ralo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "real" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ralo" and "real" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ralo" or "real" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ralo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "real" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,542 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ralo" and "real" 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 #49,542 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.