atovsavôWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,326
“ato” frequency rank
#3,962
“avô” frequency rank
5288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ato avô
Definition processo de fazer algo; manifestação real e tangível pai da mãe ou do pai

Where the eye mixes ato and avô

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ato
3 ch
avô

Look-alike desk: ato vs avô

A purely visual mix-up. ato (/ˈato/ ou /ˈatu/_(plural:) /ˈatos/, /ˈatus/ ou /ˈatuʃ/) and avô (/ɐ.ˈvo/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5288, 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/. avô is at rank #3,962, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈvo/.

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 5288, this pair ranks #69,358 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ato vs avô

Shared letters: a. Private to "ato": ot. Private to "avô": .

"ato" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "avô" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ato" and "avô" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈato/ ou /ˈatu/_(plural:) /ˈatos/, /ˈatus/ ou /ˈatuʃ/ versus /ɐ.ˈvo/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ato" or "avô"?
"ato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,326 in our Portuguese list, against #3,962 for "avô". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avô" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,358 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ato" and "avô" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs avô". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #69,358 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