Which to use
“active” and “ativo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,852
- “active” frequency rank
- #3,881
- “ativo” frequency rank
- 26733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | active | ativo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | atuante | diligente, expedito |
Where the eye mixes active and ativo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. active runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against ativo's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between active and ativo
A purely visual mix-up. active (/ˈæk.tɪv/) and ativo (/a.ˈʧi.vu/) 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 26733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
active is recorded at frequency rank #22,852, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈæk.tɪv/. ativo is at rank #3,881, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈʧi.vu/.
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 26733, this pair ranks #42,360 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of active vs ativo
Shared letters: aitv. Private to "active": ce. Private to "ativo": o.
"active" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "ativo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "active" and "ativo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "active" vs "ativo" - which ranks higher?
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 "active" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ativo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,360 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "active" and "ativo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acting vs active". 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 #42,360 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.