altvsataWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#21,650
“alt” frequency rank
#8,716
“ata” frequency rank
30366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alt ata
Definition velho registro escrito do que se passou em uma reunião

Where the eye mixes alt and ata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
alt
3 ch
ata

Why the eye confuses alt with ata

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alt is /alt/ while ata is /ˈa.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alt is recorded at frequency rank #21,650, classified as anadj, pronounced /alt/. 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 30366, this pair ranks #38,010 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alt vs ata

Shared letters: at. Private to "alt": l. Private to "ata": -.

"alt" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "ata" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alt" and "ata" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alt" is an adjective and "ata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "alt" or "ata" show up more?
"ata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,716 in our Portuguese list, against #21,650 for "alt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,010 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alt" and "ata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs alt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #38,010 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list