Which to use
“alegria” is a noun and “alerta” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,696
- “alegria” frequency rank
- #2,551
- “alerta” frequency rank
- 4247
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alegria | alerta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contentamento | que está em estado de prontidão |
Where the eye mixes alegria and alerta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alegria runs 7 letters (VCVCCVV) against alerta's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between alegria and alerta
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alegria is /ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡɾi.ɐ/ while alerta is /a.ˈlɛɾ.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alegria is recorded at frequency rank #1,696, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.lɨ.ˈɡɾi.ɐ/. alerta is at rank #2,551, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈlɛɾ.tɐ/.
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 4247, this pair ranks #70,719 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alegria vs alerta
Shared letters: aelr. Private to "alegria": gi. Private to "alerta": t.
"alegria" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "alerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alegria" for "alerta" ever safe?
Which is more common, "alegria" or "alerta"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "alegria" and "alerta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "alegria" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alerta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,719 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alegria" and "alerta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alegria vs alegro". 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 #70,719 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.