al vs apo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“al” is a contraction and “apo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,002
“al” frequency rank: #45,685
“apo” frequency rank: 46687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	al	apo
Definition	ao (contração da preposição a (Espanhol) e do artigo el (Espanhol)).	atar, juntar, ligar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

2 ch

3 ch

apo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: al is /al/ while apo is /ˈa.poː/.. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

al is recorded at frequency rank #1,002, classified as acontraction, pronounced /al/. apo is at rank #45,685, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈa.poː/..

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 46687, this pair ranks #18,624 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of al vs apo

Shared letters: a. Private to "al": l. Private to "apo": op.

"al" · 2 letters · shape VC · "apo" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

al#1,002

apo#45,685

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "al" and "apo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "al" is a contraction and "apo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "al" or "apo"?

"al" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,002 in our Portuguese list, against #45,685 for "apo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering al vs apo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “al”; for a verb, it's “apo”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “al” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable