Which to use
“alteração” and “atração” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,594
- “alteração” frequency rank
- #4,879
- “atração” frequency rank
- 10473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alteração | atração |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o fato de alterar; modificação | efeito ou ação de atrair |
Where the eye mixes alteração and atração
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. alteração runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCVV) against atração's 7 (VCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses alteração with atração
A purely visual mix-up. alteração (/aɫ.tɨ.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and atração (/ɐ.tɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alteração is recorded at frequency rank #5,594, classified as anoun, pronounced /aɫ.tɨ.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. atração is at rank #4,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.tɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 10473, this pair ranks #62,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alteração vs atração
Shared letters: aortãç. Private to "alteração": el. Private to "atração": -.
"alteração" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVV · "atração" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alteração" for "atração" ever safe?
Frequency check: "alteração" vs "atração" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alteração" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alteração" and "atração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adulteração vs alteração". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #62,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.