ontem vs outrem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#525
“ontem” frequency rank: #30,659
“outrem” frequency rank: 31184
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ontem	outrem
Definition	no dia anterior ao de hoje	outra pessoa; outras pessoas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ontem and outrem apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

ontem

6 ch

outrem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ontem is /ˈõ.tɐ̃j̃/ while outrem is /ˈow.tɾɐ̃j̃/. 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 pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31184, 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/. outrem is at rank #30,659, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈow.tɾɐ̃j̃/.

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 31184, this pair ranks #36,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ontem vs outrem

Shared letters: emot. Private to "ontem": n. Private to "outrem": ru.

"ontem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "outrem" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

ontem ← notem · onetm · onntem · ontemm · ontme · onttem · otnem
outrem ← oturem · ourtem · outerm · outremm · outrme · outrrem · outtrem · uotrem

Frequency comparison

ontem#525

outrem#30,659

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"ontem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #525 in our Portuguese list, against #30,659 for "outrem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ontem vs outrem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “ontem”; for a pronoun, it's “outrem”.
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