acnevsalceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“acne” and “alce” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,830
“acne” frequency rank
#48,754
“alce” frequency rank
81584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acne alce
Definition condição que consiste em erupções da pele causadas por inflamações e acúmulo de secreção mamífero artiodáctilo da família dos cervídeos (Alces alces), que ocorre nas regiões frias ao norte do hemisfério norte; de pelagem escura, ponta do focinho larga e arqueada e grande galhada espalmada, com numerosas pontas, presente somente nos machos [É o maior dos cervídeos, alcançando até 3 m de comprimento.]

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acne and alce apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
acne
4 ch
alce

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acne (/ˈak.nɨ/) and alce (/ˈaɫ.sɨ/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acne is recorded at frequency rank #32,830, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈak.nɨ/. alce is at rank #48,754, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɫ.sɨ/.

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 81584, this pair ranks #1,145 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of acne vs alce

Shared letters: ace. Private to "acne": n. Private to "alce": l.

"acne" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acneaccne · acen · acnne · ance · cane
  • alcealcce · alec · allce · lace

Frequency comparison

acne#32,830
alce#48,754

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acne" and "alce" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈak.nɨ/ versus /ˈaɫ.sɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acne" or "alce"?
"acne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,830 in our Portuguese list, against #48,754 for "alce". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acne vs alce

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acne” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list