Which to use
“alto” is an adjective and “até” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #516
- “alto” frequency rank
- #55
- “até” frequency rank
- 571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alto | até |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | de muita estatura | também, inclusive |
Where the eye mixes alto and até
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: alto vs até
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alto is /ˈaɫ.tu/ while até is /ɐ.ˈtɛ/. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alto is recorded at frequency rank #516, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈaɫ.tu/. até is at rank #55, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtɛ/.
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 571, this pair ranks #75,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alto vs até
Shared letters: at. Private to "alto": lo. Private to "até": é.
"alto" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "até" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- alto ← allto · alot · altto · atlo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "alto" and "até" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "alto" or "até"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "alto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "até" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alto" and "até" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs até". 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 #75,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.