Which to use
“abalo” and “atalho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,870
- “abalo” frequency rank
- #20,789
- “atalho” frequency rank
- 46659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abalo | atalho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de abalar | caminho entre dois pontos, mais curto que o oficial ou o mais conhecido ou o mais seguro |
Where the eye mixes abalo and atalho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. abalo runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against atalho's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses abalo with atalho
A purely visual mix-up. abalo (/ɐ.ˈba.lu/) and atalho (/ɐ.ˈta.ʎu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46659, 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/. atalho is at rank #20,789, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈta.ʎu/.
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 46659, this pair ranks #18,651 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abalo vs atalho
Shared letters: alo. Private to "abalo": b. Private to "atalho": ht.
"abalo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "atalho" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abalo" and "atalho" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "abalo" or "atalho"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abalo" and "atalho" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abalo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atalho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,651 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abalo" and "atalho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abalo vs alado". 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 #18,651 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.