rastovsretoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rasto is a noun, reto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,450
“rasto” frequency rank
#10,954
“reto” frequency rank
49404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rasto reto
Definition vestígio da passagem de alguém ou de algum animal; indício, pegada, pista que não tem curvatura, sinuosidade ou inflexão; que segue sempre a mesma direção; direito, direto

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
rasto
4 ch
reto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: rasto is anoun and retoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rasto is recorded at frequency rank #38,450, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRaʃ.tu/. reto is at rank #10,954, tagged as anadj.

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 49404, this pair ranks #15,601 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rasto vs reto

Shared letters: ort. Private to "rasto": as. Private to "reto": e.

"rasto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "reto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rastoarsto · rasot · rassto · rastto · ratso · rrasto · rsato
  • retoerto · reot · retto · rreto · rteo

Frequency comparison

rasto#38,450
reto#10,954

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rasto" and "reto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rasto" is a noun and "reto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rasto" or "reto"?
"reto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,954 in our Portuguese list, against #38,450 for "rasto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rasto vs reto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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