alterado vs alterar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“alterado” is an adjective and “alterar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,950
“alterado” frequency rank: #5,593
“alterar” frequency rank: 15543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	alterado	alterar
Definition	mudado, modificado	tornar diferente em algum aspecto como tamanho, peso, estilo, etc

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alterado and alterar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

alterado

7 ch

alterar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alterado is /aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾa.du/ while alterar is /aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alterado is recorded at frequency rank #9,950, classified as anadj, pronounced /aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾa.du/. 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 15543, this pair ranks #56,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alterado vs alterar

Shared letters: aelrt. Private to "alterado": do. Private to "alterar": -.

"alterado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "alterar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

alterado ← aletrado · allterado · alteardo · alteraddo · alteraod · alterdao · alterrado · altreado
alterar ← aletrar · allterar · altearr · alterarr · alterra · alterrar · altrear · altterar

Frequency comparison

alterado#9,950

alterar#5,593

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alterado" and "alterar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alterado" is an adjective and "alterar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "alterado" or "alterar"?

"alterar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,593 in our Portuguese list, against #9,950 for "alterado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alterado vs alterar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “alterado”; for a verb, it's “alterar”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alterado” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable