Which to use
“àquela” is a contraction and “aquém” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,603
- “àquela” frequency rank
- #26,275
- “aquém” frequency rank
- 35878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | àquela | aquém |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração da preposição a com o pronome demonstrativo aquela | da parte ou do lado de cá |
Letter map: àquela vs aquém
Shared letters muted; letters that set àquela and aquém apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. àquela runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against aquém's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - àquela and aquém
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: àquela is acontraction and aquémanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
àquela is recorded at frequency rank #9,603, classified as acontraction. aquém is at rank #26,275, tagged as anadv, pronounced /aˈkɐ̃j̃/.
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 35878, this pair ranks #31,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of àquela vs aquém
Shared letters: aqu. Private to "àquela": elà. Private to "aquém": mé.
"àquela" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "aquém" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "àquela" for "aquém" ever safe?
Which is more common, "àquela" or "aquém"?
Useful next steps
Pair "àquela" vs "aquém" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "àquela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aquém" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "àquela" and "aquém" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "àquela vs avelã". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #31,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.