àquela vs aquilo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“àquela” is a contraction and “aquilo” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,603
“àquela” frequency rank: #820
“aquilo” frequency rank: 10423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	àquela	aquilo
Definition	contração da preposição a com o pronome demonstrativo aquela	aquela coisa ou aquele assunto

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set àquela and aquilo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

àquela

6 ch

aquilo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: àquela is acontraction and aquiloapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

àquela is recorded at frequency rank #9,603, classified as acontraction. aquilo is at rank #820, tagged as apron, pronounced /ɐ.ˈki.lu/.

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 10423, this pair ranks #62,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of àquela vs aquilo

Shared letters: alqu. Private to "àquela": eà. Private to "aquilo": io.

"àquela" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "aquilo" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

aquilo ← aqiulo · aqquilo · aquillo · aquiol · aqulio · auqilo · qauilo

Frequency comparison

àquela#9,603

aquilo#820

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "àquela" and "aquilo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "àquela" is a contraction and "aquilo" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "àquela" or "aquilo"?

"aquilo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #820 in our Portuguese list, against #9,603 for "àquela". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering àquela vs aquilo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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