Which to use
“obter” is a verb and “ontem” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,442
- “obter” frequency rank
- #525
- “ontem” frequency rank
- 1967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obter | ontem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alcançar o que se desejava ou pedia | no dia anterior ao de hoje |
Where the eye mixes obter and ontem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. obter and ontem follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: obter vs ontem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obter is /ɔ.bˈteɾ/ while ontem is /ˈõ.tɐ̃j̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 1967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obter is recorded at frequency rank #1,442, classified as averb, pronounced /ɔ.bˈteɾ/. ontem is at rank #525, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈõ.tɐ̃j̃/.
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 1967, this pair ranks #73,539 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obter vs ontem
Shared letters: eot. Private to "obter": br. Private to "ontem": mn.
"obter" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "ontem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "obter" and "ontem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "obter" vs "ontem" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "obter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ontem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,539 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obter" and "ontem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ontem vs outrem". 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 #73,539 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.