Which to use
“altar” is a noun and “alterar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,141
- “altar” frequency rank
- #5,593
- “alterar” frequency rank
- 13734
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | altar | alterar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estrutura elevada perante a qual cerimônias religiosas são realizadas ou na qual sacrifícios podem ser oferecidos aos deuses, ancestrais, etc | tornar diferente em algum aspecto como tamanho, peso, estilo, etc |
Letter map: altar vs alterar
Shared letters muted; letters that set altar and alterar apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Role in the sentence - altar and alterar
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: altar is anoun and alteraraverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
altar is recorded at frequency rank #8,141, classified as anoun. alterar is at rank #5,593, tagged as averb, pronounced /aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾaɾ/.
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 13734, this pair ranks #58,521 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of altar vs alterar
Shared letters: alrt. Private to "altar": -. Private to "alterar": e.
"altar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "alterar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "altar" for "alterar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "altar" or "alterar"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "altar" and "alterar".
- Full dictionary entry for "altar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alterar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,521 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "altar" and "alterar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "altar vs atar". 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 #58,521 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.