sobrarvssoltarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,849
“sobrar” frequency rank
#5,356
“soltar” frequency rank
25205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobrar soltar
Definition subsistir como resto, sobra ou remanescente; existir ou estar ainda disponível; conservar-se, ficar, restar, permanecer libertar

Where the eye mixes sobrar and soltar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sobrar and soltar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
sobrar
6 ch
soltar

Look-alike desk: sobrar vs soltar

A purely visual mix-up. sobrar (/su.ˈbɾaɾ/) and soltar (/soɫ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sobrar is recorded at frequency rank #19,849, classified as averb, pronounced /su.ˈbɾaɾ/. soltar is at rank #5,356, tagged as averb, pronounced /soɫ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 25205, this pair ranks #44,161 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sobrar vs soltar

Shared letters: aors. Private to "sobrar": b. Private to "soltar": lt.

"sobrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "soltar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobrar ← osbrar · sborar · sobarr · sobbrar · sobrarr · sobrra · sobrrar · sorbar
  • soltar ← osltar · slotar · solatr · solltar · soltarr · soltra · solttar · sotlar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sobrar" and "soltar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/su.ˈbɾaɾ/ versus /soɫ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sobrar" or "soltar"?
"soltar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,356 in our Portuguese list, against #19,849 for "sobrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "sobrar" and "soltar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "soltar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,161 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobrar" and "soltar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sobrar vs sondar". 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 #44,161 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