aldavsallaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alda is a noun, alla is a contraction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alda” is a noun and “alla” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,810
“alda” frequency rank
#36,313
“alla” frequency rank
67123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alda alla
Definition vaga, onda marinha na

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alda and alla apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
alda
4 ch
alla

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: alda is anoun and allaacontraction. On the page they differ by a single letter - d in “alda” becomes l in “alla”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alda is recorded at frequency rank #30,810, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈal.da/. 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 67123, this pair ranks #4,744 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alda vs alla

Shared letters: al. Private to "alda": d. Private to "alla": -.

"alda" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "alla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aldaadla · alad · aldda · allda · lada
  • allaalal · lala

Frequency comparison

alda#30,810
alla#36,313

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alda" and "alla" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alda" is a noun and "alla" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alda" or "alla"?
"alda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,810 in our Portuguese list, against #36,313 for "alla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alda vs alla

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “alda”; for a contraction, it's “alla”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alda” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list