ontem vs onze, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ontem” is an adverb and “onze” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#525
“ontem” frequency rank: #5,665
“onze” frequency rank: 6190
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ontem	onze
Definition	no dia anterior ao de hoje	número equivalente a dez mais um; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha onze elementos distintos; representado pelo símbolo 11 (algarismos arábicos) ou XI (algarismos romanos)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ontem and onze apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

ontem

4 ch

onze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ontem is /ˈõ.tɐ̃j̃/ while onze is /ˈõ.zɨ/. 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 (adverb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ontem is recorded at frequency rank #525, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈõ.tɐ̃j̃/. onze is at rank #5,665, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈõ.zɨ/.

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 6190, this pair ranks #68,295 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ontem vs onze

Shared letters: eno. Private to "ontem": mt. Private to "onze": z.

"ontem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "onze" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

ontem ← notem · onetm · onntem · ontemm · ontme · onttem · otnem
onze ← noze · onez · onnze · onzze · ozne

Frequency comparison

ontem#525

onze#5,665

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ontem" and "onze" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ontem" is an adverb and "onze" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ontem" or "onze"?

"ontem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #525 in our Portuguese list, against #5,665 for "onze". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ontem vs onze

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “ontem”; for a num, it's “onze”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ontem” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable