ratavsRaulWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“rata” and “Raul” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,790
“rata” frequency rank
#5,886
“Raul” frequency rank
31676
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rata Raul
Definition fêmea do rato; ratazana prenome masculino

Letter map: rata vs Raul

Shared letters muted; letters that set rata and Raul apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
rata
4 ch
Raul

Pair insight - rata / Raul

rata and Raul are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rata is recorded at frequency rank #25,790, classified as anoun. Raul is at rank #5,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʁaˈuw/; /haˈuʊ̯/.

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 31676, this pair ranks #36,339 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rata vs Raul

Shared letters: ar. Private to "rata": t. Private to "Raul": lu.

"rata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Raul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rataarta · raat · ratta · rrata · rtaa
  • Raularul · ralu · raull · rraul · rual

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rata" for "Raul" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "rata" vs "Raul" - which ranks higher?
"Raul" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,886 in our Portuguese list, against #25,790 for "rata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "rata" and "Raul".

  • Full dictionary entry for "rata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Raul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,339 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rata" and "Raul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs rata". 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 #36,339 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list