abavsaufWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: aba is a noun, auf is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aba” is a noun and “auf” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,719
“aba” frequency rank
#42,318
“auf” frequency rank
58037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aba auf
Definition parte saliente da beira das vestimentas, ou outros materiais de pano, para uso das pessoas, tais como vestido, paletó, toldo etc aberto

Where the eye mixes aba and auf

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
aba
3 ch
auf

Look-alike desk: aba vs auf

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aba is /ˈa.bɐ/ while auf is /aʊ̯f/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58037, 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/. auf is at rank #42,318, tagged as anadv, pronounced /aʊ̯f/.

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 58037, this pair ranks #8,971 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aba vs auf

Shared letters: a. Private to "aba": b. Private to "auf": fu.

"aba" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "auf" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aba" and "auf" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aba" is a noun and "auf" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "aba" vs "auf" - which ranks higher?
"aba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,719 in our Portuguese list, against #42,318 for "auf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "auf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,971 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aba" and "auf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs auf". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,971 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