Which to use
“atear” and “aterrar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,140
- “atear” frequency rank
- #32,863
- “aterrar” frequency rank
- 71003
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | atear | aterrar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lançar fogo a | retornar à terra; pousar (o avião); aterrissar |
Where the eye mixes atear and aterrar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. atear runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against aterrar's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between atear and aterrar
A purely visual mix-up. atear (/ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/) and aterrar (/a.teˈʁa(ʁ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
atear is recorded at frequency rank #38,140, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/. aterrar is at rank #32,863, tagged as averb, pronounced /a.teˈʁa(ʁ)/.
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 71003, this pair ranks #3,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of atear vs aterrar
Shared letters: aert. Private to "atear": -. Private to "aterrar": -.
"atear" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "aterrar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "atear" and "aterrar" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "atear" or "aterrar" 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 "atear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aterrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "atear" and "aterrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atar vs atear". 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 #3,475 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.