restar vs reter, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#29,128
“restar” frequency rank: #14,701
“reter” frequency rank: 43829
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	restar	reter
Definition	sobrar	não largar da mão

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

restar

5 ch

reter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. restar (/Rɨʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and reter (/Rɨ.ˈteɾ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

restar is recorded at frequency rank #29,128, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨʃ.ˈtaɾ/. reter is at rank #14,701, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈteɾ/.

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 43829, this pair ranks #21,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of restar vs reter

Shared letters: ert. Private to "restar": as. Private to "reter": -.

"restar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "reter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

restar ← erstar · resatr · resstar · restarr · restra · resttar · retsar · rrestar
reter ← erter · reetr · reterr · retre · retter · rreter · rteer

Frequency comparison

restar#29,128

reter#14,701

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "restar" and "reter" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/Rɨʃ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /Rɨ.ˈteɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "restar" or "reter"?

"reter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,701 in our Portuguese list, against #29,128 for "restar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering restar vs reter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “restar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable