abaixo vs abalo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#708
“abaixo” frequency rank: #25,870
“abalo” frequency rank: 26578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	abaixo	abalo
Definition	em lugar menos alto	ato ou efeito de abalar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abaixo and abalo apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

abaixo

5 ch

abalo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abaixo is /ɐ.ˈbaj.ʃu/ while abalo is /ɐ.ˈba.lu/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abaixo is recorded at frequency rank #708, classified as anadv, pronounced /ɐ.ˈbaj.ʃu/. abalo is at rank #25,870, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈba.lu/.

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 26578, this pair ranks #42,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abaixo vs abalo

Shared letters: abo. Private to "abaixo": ix. Private to "abalo": l.

"abaixo" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "abalo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

abaixo ← aabixo · abaiox · abaixxo · abaxio · abbaixo · abiaxo · baaixo
abalo ← aablo · aballo · abaol · abbalo · ablao · baalo

Frequency comparison

abaixo#708

abalo#25,870

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abaixo" and "abalo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abaixo" is an adverb and "abalo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "abaixo" or "abalo"?

"abaixo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #708 in our Portuguese list, against #25,870 for "abalo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering abaixo vs abalo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “abaixo”; for a noun, it's “abalo”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abaixo” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable