Which to use
“alerta” is an adjective and “alertar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,551
- “alerta” frequency rank
- #10,997
- “alertar” frequency rank
- 13548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alerta | alertar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está em estado de prontidão | pôr em alerta |
Where the eye mixes alerta and alertar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between alerta and alertar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alerta is /a.ˈlɛɾ.tɐ/ while alertar is /ɐ.lɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “alerta” sits inside “alertar”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alerta is recorded at frequency rank #2,551, classified as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈlɛɾ.tɐ/. alertar is at rank #10,997, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.lɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/.
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 13548, this pair ranks #58,750 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alerta vs alertar
Shared letters: aelrt. Private to "alerta": -. Private to "alertar": -.
"alerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "alertar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alerta" for "alertar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "alerta" vs "alertar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "alerta" and "alertar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "alerta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alertar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,750 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alerta" and "alertar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alertar vs atestar". 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 #58,750 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.