Which to use
“ale” and “apple” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,419
- “ale” frequency rank
- #4,286
- “apple” frequency rank
- 21705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ale | apple |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | reflexo da lua na água | maçã |
Where the eye mixes ale and apple
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ale and apple
A purely visual mix-up. ale (/a.ˈle/) and apple (/ˈæ.pl̩/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) 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 21705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ale is recorded at frequency rank #17,419, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈle/. apple is at rank #4,286, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæ.pl̩/ ouvir^(fonte ?).
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 21705, this pair ranks #48,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ale vs apple
Shared letters: ael. Private to "ale": -. Private to "apple": p.
"ale" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "apple" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- apple ← aple · aplpe · applle
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ale" for "apple" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ale" vs "apple" - which ranks higher?
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 "ale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apple" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ale" and "apple" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ale". 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 #48,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.