ultimatovsúltimoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#26,588
“ultimato” frequency rank
#456
“último” frequency rank
27044
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ultimato último
Definition num processo de negociação diplomática, exigência, pedido ou proposta final cuja rejeição acarretará o fim das conversações e o uso de uma ação direta que está ou é do final

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ultimato and último apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
ultimato
6 ch
último

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ultimato is /uw.t͡ʃiˈma.tu/ while último is [ˈuw.t͡ʃɪ.mʊ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ultimato is recorded at frequency rank #26,588, classified as anoun, pronounced /uw.t͡ʃiˈma.tu/. último is at rank #456, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈuw.t͡ʃɪ.mʊ].

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 27044, this pair ranks #41,984 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ultimato vs último

Shared letters: ilmot. Private to "ultimato": au. Private to "último": ú.

"ultimato" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "último" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ultimatolutimato · ulitmato · ulltimato · ultiamto · ultimaot · ultimatto · ultimmato · ultimtao

Frequency comparison

ultimato#26,588
último#456

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ultimato" and "último" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ultimato" is a noun and "último" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ultimato" or "último"?
"último" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #456 in our Portuguese list, against #26,588 for "ultimato". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ultimato vs último

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ultimato”; for an adjective, it's “último”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ultimato” 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