Which to use
“ata” is a noun and “atrás” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,716
- “ata” frequency rank
- #441
- “atrás” frequency rank
- 9157
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ata | atrás |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | registro escrito do que se passou em uma reunião | detrás, por trás |
Where the eye mixes ata and atrás
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ata runs 3 letters (VCV) against atrás's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ata with atrás
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ata is /ˈa.tɐ/ while atrás is /ɐ.ˈtɾaʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ata is recorded at frequency rank #8,716, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.tɐ/. atrás is at rank #441, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtɾaʃ/.
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 9157, this pair ranks #64,375 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ata vs atrás
Shared letters: at. Private to "ata": -. Private to "atrás": rsá.
"ata" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "atrás" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ata" and "atrás" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ata" or "atrás"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ata" and "atrás" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atrás" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,375 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ata" and "atrás" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ata". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #64,375 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.