actvsalceWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: act is a verb, alce is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“act” is a verb and “alce” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,948
“act” frequency rank
#48,754
“alce” frequency rank
58702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature act alce
Definition agir 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 act and alce apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
act
4 ch
alce

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: act is averb and alceanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

act is recorded at frequency rank #9,948, classified as averb. 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 58702, this pair ranks #8,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of act vs alce

Shared letters: ac. Private to "act": t. Private to "alce": el.

"act" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcealcce · alec · allce · lace

Frequency comparison

act#9,948
alce#48,754

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "act" and "alce" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "act" is a verb and "alce" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "act" or "alce"?
"act" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,948 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 act vs alce

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “act”; for a noun, it's “alce”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “act” 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