Which to use
“atear” is a verb and “atrás” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,140
- “atear” frequency rank
- #441
- “atrás” frequency rank
- 38581
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | atear | atrás |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lançar fogo a | detrás, por trás |
Where the eye mixes atear and atrás
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses atear with atrás
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: atear is /ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/ while atrás is /ɐ.ˈtɾaʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38581, 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/. 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 38581, this pair ranks #27,838 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of atear vs atrás
Shared letters: art. Private to "atear": e. Private to "atrás": sá.
"atear" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "atrás" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- atear ← aetar · ataer · atearr · atera · attear · taear
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "atear" for "atrás" ever safe?
Frequency check: "atear" vs "atrás" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "atear" and "atrás" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "atear" 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 #27,838 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "atear" and "atrás" 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 #27,838 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.