Which to use
“alas” is a noun and “alla” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,688
- “alas” frequency rank
- #36,313
- “alla” frequency rank
- 54001
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alas | alla |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | forma plural de ala: | na |
Letter map: alas vs alla
Shared letters muted; letters that set alas and alla apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. alas (VCVC) and alla (VCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - alas and alla
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: alas is anoun and allaacontraction. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alas is recorded at frequency rank #17,688, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.lɐs/. alla is at rank #36,313, tagged as acontraction.
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 54001, this pair ranks #11,631 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alas vs alla
Shared letters: al. Private to "alas": s. Private to "alla": -.
"alas" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "alla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alas" for "alla" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "alas" or "alla" show up more?
After this comparison
You've compared "alas" and "alla". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "alas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,631 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alas" and "alla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alla vs alles". 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 #11,631 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.