Which to use
“aba” is a noun and “atar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,719
- “aba” frequency rank
- #48,254
- “atar” frequency rank
- 63973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aba | atar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | parte saliente da beira das vestimentas, ou outros materiais de pano, para uso das pessoas, tais como vestido, paletó, toldo etc | apertar atilho com nó; amarrar; ligar; manietar: |
Where the eye mixes aba and atar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. aba runs 3 letters (VCV) against atar's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aba vs atar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aba is /ˈa.bɐ/ while atar is /ɐ.ˈtaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aba is recorded at frequency rank #15,719, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.bɐ/. atar is at rank #48,254, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.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 63973, this pair ranks #5,974 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aba vs atar
Shared letters: a. Private to "aba": b. Private to "atar": rt.
"aba" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "atar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- atar ← aatr · atarr · attar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aba" and "atar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "aba" or "atar" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,974 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aba" and "atar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afã vs atar". 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 #5,974 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.