Which to use
“hálito” and “hélio” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,770
- “hálito” frequency rank
- #10,369
- “hélio” frequency rank
- 37139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hálito | hélio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ar expelido | elemento químico de símbolo He, possui o número atômico 2 e massa atômica relativa de 4,002602 u; é o primeiro elemento da classe dos gases nobres; é o segundo elemento mais abundante do universo; é utilizado em mistura com o oxigênio para mergulhos em grandes profundidades, como agente refrigerante em reatores nucleares e, por ser muito leve, em balões e dirigíveis |
Where the eye mixes hálito and hélio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hálito and hélio
A purely visual mix-up. hálito (/ˈa.li.tu/) and hélio (/ˈɛ.lju/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hálito is recorded at frequency rank #26,770, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.li.tu/. hélio is at rank #10,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛ.lju/.
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 37139, this pair ranks #29,537 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hálito vs hélio
Shared letters: hilo. Private to "hálito": tá. Private to "hélio": é.
"hálito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "hélio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hálito" and "hélio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "hálito" or "hélio" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hálito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hélio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,537 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hálito" and "hélio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hálito vs halo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #29,537 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.