apovsatlWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: apo is a verb, atl is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“apo” is a verb and “atl” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,685
“apo” frequency rank
#40,900
“atl” frequency rank
86585
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apo atl
Definition atar, juntar, ligar. água

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set apo and atl apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
apo
3 ch
atl

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apo is /ˈa.poː/. while atl is /ˈaːt͡ɬ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apo is recorded at frequency rank #45,685, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈa.poː/.. atl is at rank #40,900, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaːt͡ɬ/.

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 86585, this pair ranks #564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apo vs atl

Shared letters: a. Private to "apo": op. Private to "atl": lt.

"apo" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "atl" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

apo#45,685
atl#40,900

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apo" and "atl" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "apo" is a verb and "atl" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "apo" or "atl"?
"atl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,900 in our Portuguese list, against #45,685 for "apo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering apo vs atl

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list