Which to use
“açude” and “alude” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,686
- “açude” frequency rank
- #37,180
- “alude” frequency rank
- 53866
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | açude | alude |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | construção destinada a represar as águas de um rio | o mesmo que avalancha |
Where the eye mixes açude and alude
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. açude and alude follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between açude and alude
A purely visual mix-up. açude (/ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/) and alude (/ɐ.ˈlu.dɨ/) 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 a single letter - ç in “açude” becomes l in “alude”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
açude is recorded at frequency rank #16,686, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/. alude is at rank #37,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈlu.dɨ/.
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 53866, this pair ranks #11,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of açude vs alude
Shared letters: adeu. Private to "açude": ç. Private to "alude": l.
"açude" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "alude" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- alude ← aldue · allude · aludde · alued · aulde · laude
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "açude" for "alude" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "açude" or "alude" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "açude" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alude" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "açude" and "alude" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alce vs alude". 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 #11,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.