Which to use
“artigo” is a noun and “ativo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #683
- “artigo” frequency rank
- #3,881
- “ativo” frequency rank
- 4564
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | artigo | ativo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | palavra que precede os substantivos para os determinar | diligente, expedito |
Where the eye mixes artigo and ativo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. artigo runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against ativo's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: artigo vs ativo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: artigo is /ɐɾ.ˈti.ɡu/ while ativo is /a.ˈʧi.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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
artigo is recorded at frequency rank #683, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐɾ.ˈti.ɡu/. ativo is at rank #3,881, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈʧi.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 4564, this pair ranks #70,305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of artigo vs ativo
Shared letters: aiot. Private to "artigo": gr. Private to "ativo": v.
"artigo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "ativo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "artigo" for "ativo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "artigo" vs "ativo" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "artigo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ativo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "artigo" and "ativo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aipo vs ativo". 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 #70,305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.