Which to use
“once” is a num and “ontem” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,301
- “once” frequency rank
- #525
- “ontem” frequency rank
- 12826
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | once | ontem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | onze | no dia anterior ao de hoje |
Where the eye mixes once and ontem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between once and ontem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: once is /ˈɔnθe/ while ontem is /ˈõ.tɐ̃j̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
once is recorded at frequency rank #12,301, classified as anum, pronounced /ˈɔnθe/. 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 12826, this pair ranks #59,654 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of once vs ontem
Shared letters: eno. Private to "once": c. Private to "ontem": mt.
"once" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ontem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "once" for "ontem" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "once" or "ontem" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "once" and "ontem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "once" 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 #59,654 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "once" and "ontem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "once vs oni". 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 #59,654 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.