Which to use
“abalo” and “álamo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,870
- “abalo” frequency rank
- #42,741
- “álamo” frequency rank
- 68611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abalo | álamo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de abalar | árvore da espécie Populus nigra |
Where the eye mixes abalo and álamo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. abalo and álamo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abalo with álamo
A purely visual mix-up. abalo (/ɐ.ˈba.lu/) and álamo (/ˈa.lɐ.mu/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abalo is recorded at frequency rank #25,870, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈba.lu/. álamo is at rank #42,741, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.lɐ.mu/.
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 68611, this pair ranks #4,227 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abalo vs álamo
Shared letters: alo. Private to "abalo": b. Private to "álamo": má.
"abalo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "álamo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- abalo ← aablo · aballo · abaol · abbalo · ablao · baalo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abalo" for "álamo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abalo" or "álamo"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abalo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "álamo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,227 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abalo" and "álamo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alado vs álamo". 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 #4,227 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.