Which to use
“alce” and “ape” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,754
- “alce” frequency rank
- #28,095
- “ape” frequency rank
- 76849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alce | ape |
|---|---|---|
| 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.] | comida para cavalos |
Where the eye mixes alce and ape
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. alce runs 4 letters (VCCV) against ape's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses alce with ape
A purely visual mix-up. alce (/ˈaɫ.sɨ/) and ape (/ˈɑ.pe/) 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 76849, 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/. ape is at rank #28,095, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑ.pe/.
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 76849, this pair ranks #2,005 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alce vs ape
Shared letters: ae. Private to "alce": cl. Private to "ape": p.
"alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ape" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- alce ← alcce · alec · allce · lace
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alce" and "ape" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "alce" or "ape" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ape" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alce" and "ape" 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 #2,005 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.