ultimatevsultimatoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ultimate is a adjective, ultimato is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ultimate” is an adjective and “ultimato” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,476
“ultimate” frequency rank
#26,588
“ultimato” frequency rank
42064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ultimate ultimato
Definition final, maior, pior num processo de negociação diplomática, exigência, pedido ou proposta final cuja rejeição acarretará o fim das conversações e o uso de uma ação direta

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ultimate and ultimato apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
ultimate
8 ch
ultimato

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ultimate is /ˈʌltəmɪt/ while ultimato is /uw.t͡ʃiˈma.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “ultimate” becomes o in “ultimato”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ultimate is recorded at frequency rank #15,476, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʌltəmɪt/. ultimato is at rank #26,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced /uw.t͡ʃiˈma.tu/.

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 42064, this pair ranks #23,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ultimate vs ultimato

Shared letters: ailmtu. Private to "ultimate": e. Private to "ultimato": o.

"ultimate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "ultimato" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ultimatelutimate · ulitmate · ulltimate · ultiamte · ultimaet · ultimatte · ultimmate · ultimtae
  • ultimatolutimato · ulitmato · ulltimato · ultiamto · ultimaot · ultimatto · ultimmato · ultimtao

Frequency comparison

ultimate#15,476
ultimato#26,588

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ultimate" and "ultimato" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ultimate" is an adjective and "ultimato" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ultimate" or "ultimato"?
"ultimate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,476 in our Portuguese list, against #26,588 for "ultimato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ultimate vs ultimato

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list