Which to use
“alterar” and “aturar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,593
- “alterar” frequency rank
- #21,370
- “aturar” frequency rank
- 26963
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alterar | aturar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tornar diferente em algum aspecto como tamanho, peso, estilo, etc | suportar |
Where the eye mixes alterar and aturar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alterar runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against aturar'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 aturar
A purely visual mix-up. alterar (/aɫ.tɨ.ˈɾaɾ/) and aturar (/ɐ.tu.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 26963, 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/. aturar is at rank #21,370, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.tu.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 26963, this pair ranks #42,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of alterar vs aturar
Shared letters: art. Private to "alterar": el. Private to "aturar": u.
"alterar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "aturar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alterar" and "aturar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "alterar" or "aturar" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "alterar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aturar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alterar" and "aturar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atar vs aturar". 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 #42,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.