alavsaladoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ala is a noun, alado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ala” is a noun and “alado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,137
“ala” frequency rank
#47,708
“alado” frequency rank
53845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ala alado
Definition conjunto de objetos dispostos de maneira a formar uma linha que tem asas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ala and alado apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ala
5 ch
alado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ala is /ˈa.lɐ/ while alado is /a.ˈla.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ala” sits inside “alado”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ala is recorded at frequency rank #6,137, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.lɐ/. alado is at rank #47,708, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈla.du/.

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 53845, this pair ranks #11,738 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ala vs alado

Shared letters: al. Private to "ala": -. Private to "alado": do.

"ala" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "alado" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aladoaaldo · aladdo · alaod · aldao · allado · laado

Frequency comparison

ala#6,137
alado#47,708

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ala" and "alado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ala" is a noun and "alado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ala" or "alado"?
"ala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,137 in our Portuguese list, against #47,708 for "alado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ala vs alado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ala”; for an adjective, it's “alado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ala” 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