atervsatlWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ater is a verb, atl is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ater” is a verb and “atl” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,000
“ater” frequency rank
#40,900
“atl” frequency rank
79900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ater atl
Definition não permitir que tenha seguimento; impedir que prossiga água

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ater and atl apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ater
3 ch
atl

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ater is averb and atlanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ater is recorded at frequency rank #39,000, classified as averb. atl is at rank #40,900, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaːt͡ɬ/.

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 79900, this pair ranks #1,423 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ater vs atl

Shared letters: at. Private to "ater": er. Private to "atl": l.

"ater" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "atl" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ateraetr · aterr · atter

Frequency comparison

ater#39,000
atl#40,900

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ater" and "atl" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ater" is a verb and "atl" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ater" or "atl"?
"ater" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,000 in our Portuguese list, against #40,900 for "atl". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ater vs atl

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ater”; for a noun, it's “atl”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ater” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list