rascavsrasgarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rasca is a adjective, rasgar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rasca” is an adjective and “rasgar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,878
“rasca” frequency rank
#16,594
“rasgar” frequency rank
55472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rasca rasgar
Definition de má qualidade fazer rasgões em

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rasca and rasgar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
rasca
6 ch
rasgar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rasca is /ˈRaʃ.kɐ/ while rasgar is /Rɐʒ.ˈɡaɾ/. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rasca is recorded at frequency rank #38,878, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈRaʃ.kɐ/. rasgar is at rank #16,594, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɐʒ.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 55472, this pair ranks #10,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rasca vs rasgar

Shared letters: ars. Private to "rasca": c. Private to "rasgar": g.

"rasca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "rasgar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rascaarsca · racsa · rasac · rascca · rassca · rrasca · rsaca
  • rasgararsgar · ragsar · rasagr · rasgarr · rasggar · rasgra · rassgar · rrasgar

Frequency comparison

rasca#38,878
rasgar#16,594

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rasca" and "rasgar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rasca" is an adjective and "rasgar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rasca" or "rasgar"?
"rasgar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,594 in our Portuguese list, against #38,878 for "rasca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rasca vs rasgar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “rasca”; for a verb, it's “rasgar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rasca” 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