Which to use
“alce” is a noun and “algo” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,754
- “alce” frequency rank
- #222
- “algo” frequency rank
- 48976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alce | algo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mamífero artiodáctilo da família dos cervídeos (Alces alces), que ocorre nas regiões frias ao norte do hemisfério norte; de pelagem escura, ponta do focinho larga e arqueada e grande galhada espalmada, com numerosas pontas, presente somente nos machos [É o maior dos cervídeos, alcançando até 3 m de comprimento.] | um pouco, de certo modo |
Where the eye mixes alce and algo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. alce and algo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between alce and algo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alce is /ˈaɫ.sɨ/ while algo is /ˈaw.gu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alce is recorded at frequency rank #48,754, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɫ.sɨ/. algo is at rank #222, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈaw.gu/.
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 48976, this pair ranks #16,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alce vs algo
Shared letters: al. Private to "alce": ce. Private to "algo": go.
"alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "algo" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alce" for "algo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "alce" or "algo"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "alce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "algo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alce" and "algo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs alce". 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 #16,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.