Which to use
“álamo” and “alas” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,741
- “álamo” frequency rank
- #17,688
- “alas” frequency rank
- 60429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | álamo | alas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | árvore da espécie Populus nigra | forma plural de ala: |
Where the eye mixes álamo and alas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. álamo runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against alas's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses álamo with alas
A purely visual mix-up. álamo (/ˈa.lɐ.mu/) 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 60429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
álamo is recorded at frequency rank #42,741, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.lɐ.mu/. 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 60429, this pair ranks #7,664 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of álamo vs alas
Shared letters: al. Private to "álamo": moá. Private to "alas": s.
"álamo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "alas" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- alas ← aals · alass · allas · alsa · laas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "álamo" for "alas" ever safe?
Frequency check: "álamo" vs "alas" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "álamo" and "alas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "álamo" 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 #7,664 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "álamo" and "alas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alado vs álamo". 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 #7,664 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.