alçadavsaldaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#22,518
“alçada” frequency rank
#30,810
“alda” frequency rank
53328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alçada alda
Definition limite de ação de um magistrado vaga, onda marinha

Where the eye mixes alçada and alda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alçada runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against alda's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alçada
4 ch
alda

Visual trap between alçada and alda

A purely visual mix-up. alçada (/aɫ.ˈsa.dɐ/) and alda (/ˈal.da/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alçada is recorded at frequency rank #22,518, classified as anoun, pronounced /aɫ.ˈsa.dɐ/. alda is at rank #30,810, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈal.da/.

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 53328, this pair ranks #12,115 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alçada vs alda

Shared letters: adl. Private to "alçada": ç. Private to "alda": -.

"alçada" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "alda" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alda ← adla · alad · aldda · allda · lada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alçada" for "alda" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/aɫ.ˈsa.dɐ/ versus /ˈal.da/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alçada" vs "alda" - which ranks higher?
"alçada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,518 in our Portuguese list, against #30,810 for "alda". 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 "alçada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,115 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alçada" and "alda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alda vs audaz". 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 #12,115 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