aqui vs aquilo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#63
“aqui” frequency rank: #820
“aquilo” frequency rank: 883
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	aqui	aquilo
Definition	lugar onde situa-se o interlocutor	aquela coisa ou aquele assunto

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aqui and aquilo apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

aqui

6 ch

aquilo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aqui is /a.ˈki/ while aquilo is /ɐ.ˈki.lu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “aqui” sits inside “aquilo”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aqui is recorded at frequency rank #63, classified as anadv, pronounced /a.ˈki/. 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 883, this pair ranks #74,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aqui vs aquilo

Shared letters: aiqu. Private to "aqui": -. Private to "aquilo": lo.

"aqui" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "aquilo" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

aqui ← aqiu · aqqui · auqi · qaui
aquilo ← aqiulo · aqquilo · aquillo · aquiol · aqulio · auqilo · qauilo

Frequency comparison

aqui#63

aquilo#820

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"aqui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #63 in our Portuguese list, against #820 for "aquilo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering aqui vs aquilo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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