àquelas vs àqueles, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“àquelas” and “àqueles” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,891
“àquelas” frequency rank: #9,604
“àqueles” frequency rank: 29495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	àquelas	àqueles
Definition	contração da preposição a e o pronome aquelas	contração da preposição a com o pronome aqueles

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set àquelas and àqueles apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

àquelas

7 ch

àqueles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. àquelas (/a.ˈkɛ.las/, /a.ˈkɛ.lɐs/, /a.ˈkɛ.lɐʃ/) and àqueles (/a.ˈke.liʃ/) 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 a single letter - a in “àquelas” becomes e in “àqueles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

àquelas is recorded at frequency rank #19,891, classified as acontraction, pronounced /a.ˈkɛ.las/, /a.ˈkɛ.lɐs/, /a.ˈkɛ.lɐʃ/. àqueles is at rank #9,604, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /a.ˈke.liʃ/.

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 29495, this pair ranks #39,119 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of àquelas vs àqueles

Shared letters: elqsuà. Private to "àquelas": a. Private to "àqueles": -.

"àquelas" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC · "àqueles" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequency comparison

àquelas#19,891

àqueles#9,604

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "àquelas" and "àqueles" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/a.ˈkɛ.las/, /a.ˈkɛ.lɐs/, /a.ˈkɛ.lɐʃ/ versus /a.ˈke.liʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "àquelas" or "àqueles"?

"àqueles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,604 in our Portuguese list, against #19,891 for "àquelas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering àquelas vs àqueles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “àquelas” entry
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