alôvsataWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alô is a adverb, ata is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alô” is an adverb and “ata” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,874
“alô” frequency rank
#8,716
“ata” frequency rank
13590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alô ata
Definition lá, alá, podendo indicar um lugar, um tempo, mais afastado que lá registro escrito do que se passou em uma reunião

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alô and ata apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
alô
3 ch
ata

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: alô is anadverb and ataanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alô is recorded at frequency rank #4,874, classified as anadv. ata is at rank #8,716, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.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 13590, this pair ranks #58,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alô vs ata

Shared letters: a. Private to "alô": . Private to "ata": t.

"alô" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ata" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

alô#4,874
ata#8,716

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alô" and "ata" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alô" is an adverb and "ata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alô" or "ata"?
"alô" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,874 in our Portuguese list, against #8,716 for "ata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alô vs ata

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “alô”; for a noun, it's “ata”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alô” 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