sabotarvssaltarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,265
“sabotar” frequency rank
#10,609
“saltar” frequency rank
37874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sabotar saltar
Definition alterar criminosamente algo transpor através de salto

Where the eye mixes sabotar and saltar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sabotar runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against saltar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
sabotar
6 ch
saltar

Why the eye confuses sabotar with saltar

A purely visual mix-up. sabotar (/sɐ.bu.ˈtaɾ/) and saltar (/sawˈta(ʁ)/, [saʊ̯ˈta(h)]) 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 37874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sabotar is recorded at frequency rank #27,265, classified as averb, pronounced /sɐ.bu.ˈtaɾ/. saltar is at rank #10,609, tagged as averb, pronounced /sawˈta(ʁ)/, [saʊ̯ˈta(h)].

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 37874, this pair ranks #28,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sabotar vs saltar

Shared letters: arst. Private to "sabotar": bo. Private to "saltar": l.

"sabotar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "saltar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sabotar ← asbotar · sabbotar · saboatr · sabotarr · sabotra · sabottar · sabtoar · saobtar
  • saltar ← asltar · salatr · salltar · saltarr · saltra · salttar · satlar · slatar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sabotar" for "saltar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/sɐ.bu.ˈtaɾ/ versus /sawˈta(ʁ)/, [saʊ̯ˈta(h)]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sabotar" vs "saltar" - which ranks higher?
"saltar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,609 in our Portuguese list, against #27,265 for "sabotar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sabotar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "saltar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sabotar" and "saltar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saborear vs sabotar". 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 #28,686 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