alavsauraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,137
“ala” frequency rank
#13,887
“aura” frequency rank
20024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ala aura
Definition conjunto de objetos dispostos de maneira a formar uma linha vento brando e suave; aragem

Where the eye mixes ala and aura

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ala
4 ch
aura

Visual trap between ala and aura

A purely visual mix-up. ala (/ˈa.lɐ/) and aura (/ˈaw.ɾɐ/) 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 20024, 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/. aura is at rank #13,887, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaw.ɾɐ/.

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 20024, this pair ranks #50,587 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ala vs aura

Shared letters: a. Private to "ala": l. Private to "aura": ru.

"ala" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "aura" · 4 letters · shape VVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auraarua · auar · aurra · uara

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ala" for "aura" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈa.lɐ/ versus /ˈaw.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ala" or "aura" show up more?
"ala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,137 in our Portuguese list, against #13,887 for "aura". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aura" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,587 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ala" and "aura" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "audaz vs aura". 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 #50,587 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list