Which to use
“aia” and “alas” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,961
- “aia” frequency rank
- #17,688
- “alas” frequency rank
- 57649
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aia | alas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | criada para companhia | forma plural de ala: |
Where the eye mixes aia and alas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. aia runs 3 letters (VVV) against alas's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aia vs alas
A purely visual mix-up. aia (/ˈaj.ɐ/) and alas (/ˈa.lɐs/) 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 57649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aia is recorded at frequency rank #39,961, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaj.ɐ/. alas is at rank #17,688, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.lɐs/.
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 57649, this pair ranks #9,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aia vs alas
Shared letters: a. Private to "aia": i. Private to "alas": ls.
"aia" · 3 letters · shape VVV · "alas" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- alas ← aals · alass · allas · alsa · laas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aia" for "alas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "aia" or "alas"?
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 "aia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aia" and "alas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs aia". 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 #9,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.