Which to use
“atar” is a verb and “atum” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,254
- “atar” frequency rank
- #16,684
- “atum” frequency rank
- 64938
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | atar | atum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | apertar atilho com nó; amarrar; ligar; manietar: | peixe da família dos Escombrídeos muito usado na alimentação quer em fresco, quer em conserva |
Where the eye mixes atar and atum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between atar and atum
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: atar is /ɐ.ˈtaɾ/ 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
atar is recorded at frequency rank #48,254, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtaɾ/. 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 64938, this pair ranks #5,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of atar vs atum
Shared letters: at. Private to "atar": r. Private to "atum": mu.
"atar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "atum" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "atar" and "atum" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "atar" or "atum"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "atar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "atar" and "atum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afã vs atar". 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 #5,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.