atovsaveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ato” and “ave” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,326
“ato” frequency rank
#5,708
“ave” frequency rank
7034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ato ave
Definition processo de fazer algo; manifestação real e tangível animal vertebrado, ovíparo, recoberto de penas, de bico córneo, sem dentes, e cujos membros posteriores servem para marcha, sendo os anteriores transformados em asas

Letter map: ato vs ave

Shared letters muted; letters that set ato and ave apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
ato
3 ch
ave

Corpus notes: ato and ave

ato and ave are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ato is recorded at frequency rank #1,326, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈato/ ou /ˈatu/_(plural:) /ˈatos/, /ˈatus/ ou /ˈatuʃ/. ave is at rank #5,708, tagged as anoun.

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 7034, this pair ranks #67,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ato vs ave

Shared letters: a. Private to "ato": ot. Private to "ave": ev.

"ato" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ave" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ato" for "ave" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ato" or "ave" show up more?
"ato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,326 in our Portuguese list, against #5,708 for "ave". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ato" and "ave".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ato" and "ave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ave". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #67,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list