tratarvstratoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tratar is a verb, trato is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tratar” is a verb and “trato” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,728
“tratar” frequency rank
#6,354
“trato” frequency rank
8082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tratar trato
Definition ocupar-se de; dedicar cuidados a; dar tratamento a; ter relações com; discorrer acerca de; ocupar-se de; manusear; alimentar; executar; combinar; obsequiar; estabelecer; pactuar; combinar; cultivar espaço (de terreno)

Letter map: tratar vs trato

Shared letters muted; letters that set tratar and trato apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
tratar
5 ch
trato

Grammar separator: tratar vs trato

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tratar is averb and tratoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tratar is recorded at frequency rank #1,728, classified as averb, pronounced /tɾɐ.ˈtaɾ/. trato is at rank #6,354, tagged as anoun.

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 8082, this pair ranks #65,820 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tratar vs trato

Shared letters: art. Private to "tratar": -. Private to "trato": o.

"tratar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "trato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tratarrtatar · tartar · traatr · tratarr · tratra · trattar · trratar · trtaar
  • tratortato · tarto · traot · tratto · trrato · trtao · ttrato

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tratar" for "trato" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tratar" is a verb and "trato" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tratar" or "trato"?
"tratar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,728 in our Portuguese list, against #6,354 for "trato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "tratar" and "trato". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tratar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,820 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tratar" and "trato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trato vs travão". 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 #65,820 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