álamovsátomoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,741
“álamo” frequency rank
#21,055
“átomo” frequency rank
63796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature álamo átomo
Definition árvore da espécie Populus nigra menor partícula em que se pode dividir um elemento, exibindo ainda todas as características típicas do comportamento químico desse elemento

Where the eye mixes álamo and átomo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. álamo and átomo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
álamo
5 ch
átomo

Why the eye confuses álamo with átomo

A purely visual mix-up. álamo (/ˈa.lɐ.mu/) and átomo (/ˈa.tu.mu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63796, 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/. átomo is at rank #21,055, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.tu.mu/.

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 63796, this pair ranks #6,034 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of álamo vs átomo

Shared letters: moá. Private to "álamo": al. Private to "átomo": t.

"álamo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "átomo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "álamo" and "átomo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈa.lɐ.mu/ versus /ˈa.tu.mu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "álamo" or "átomo" show up more?
"átomo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,055 in our Portuguese list, against #42,741 for "álamo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "álamo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "átomo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,034 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "álamo" and "átomo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alado vs álamo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #6,034 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