Which to use
“aquilo” is a pronoun and “arquivo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #820
- “aquilo” frequency rank
- #2,176
- “arquivo” frequency rank
- 2996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aquilo | arquivo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aquela coisa ou aquele assunto | ação de arquivar |
Where the eye mixes aquilo and arquivo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. aquilo runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against arquivo's 7 (VCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses aquilo with arquivo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aquilo is /ɐ.ˈki.lu/ while arquivo is /ɐɾ.ˈki.vu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aquilo is recorded at frequency rank #820, classified as apron, pronounced /ɐ.ˈki.lu/. arquivo is at rank #2,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐɾ.ˈki.vu/.
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 2996, this pair ranks #72,217 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aquilo vs arquivo
Shared letters: aioqu. Private to "aquilo": l. Private to "arquivo": rv.
"aquilo" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "arquivo" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aquilo" for "arquivo" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "aquilo" or "arquivo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aquilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arquivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,217 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aquilo" and "arquivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arquivar vs arquivo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #72,217 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.