aquivsatumWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aqui is a adverb, atum is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#63
“aqui” frequency rank
#16,684
“atum” frequency rank
16747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aqui atum
Definition lugar onde situa-se o interlocutor peixe da família dos Escombrídeos muito usado na alimentação quer em fresco, quer em conserva

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aqui and atum apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
aqui
4 ch
atum

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aqui is /a.ˈki/ while atum is /ɐ.ˈtũ/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16747, 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/. atum is at rank #16,684, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtũ/.

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 16747, this pair ranks #54,707 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aqui vs atum

Shared letters: au. Private to "aqui": iq. Private to "atum": mt.

"aqui" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "atum" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aquiaqiu · aqqui · auqi · qaui
  • atumatmu · attum · atumm · autm · taum

Frequency comparison

aqui#63
atum#16,684

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aqui" and "atum" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aqui" is an adverb and "atum" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aqui" or "atum"?
"aqui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #63 in our Portuguese list, against #16,684 for "atum". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering aqui vs atum

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “aqui”; for a noun, it's “atum”.
  • 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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list