agovsapósWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,434
“ago” frequency rank
#187
“após” frequency rank
9621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ago após
Definition há, atrás – adj em seguimento

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ago and após apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ago
4 ch
após

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ago (/əˈɡəʊ/) and após (/ɐ.ˈpɔʃ/) 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 9621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ago is recorded at frequency rank #9,434, classified as anadv, pronounced /əˈɡəʊ/. após is at rank #187, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɐ.ˈpɔʃ/.

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 9621, this pair ranks #63,752 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ago vs após

Shared letters: a. Private to "ago": go. Private to "após": psó.

"ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "após" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Frequency comparison

ago#9,434
após#187

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ago" and "após" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/əˈɡəʊ/ versus /ɐ.ˈpɔʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ago" or "após"?
"após" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our Portuguese list, against #9,434 for "ago". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ago vs após

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 “ago” 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