Which to use
“alterar” and “atirar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,593
- “alterar” frequency rank
- #6,264
- “atirar” frequency rank
- 11857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alterar | atirar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tornar diferente em algum aspecto como tamanho, peso, estilo, etc | lançar um projétil contra um alvo ou pessoa |
Where the eye mixes alterar and atirar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alterar runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against atirar's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses alterar with atirar
A purely visual mix-up. alterar (/aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾaɾ/) and atirar (/ɐ.ti.ˈɾaɾ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alterar is recorded at frequency rank #5,593, classified as averb, pronounced /aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾaɾ/. atirar is at rank #6,264, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ti.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 11857, this pair ranks #60,904 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alterar vs atirar
Shared letters: art. Private to "alterar": el. Private to "atirar": i.
"alterar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "atirar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alterar" and "atirar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "alterar" vs "atirar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alterar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atirar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,904 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alterar" and "atirar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atar vs atirar". 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 #60,904 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.