GoavsgzWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Goa is a name, gz is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Goa” is a name and “gz” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,080
“Goa” frequency rank
#43,939
“gz” frequency rank
75019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Goa gz
Definition indischer Bundesstaat an der Westküste des Landes; ehemalige portugiesische Kolonie Glückwunsch, Gratulation

Where the eye mixes Goa and gz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. Goa runs 3 letters (CVV) against gz's 2 (CC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
Goa
2 ch
gz

Look-alike desk: Goa vs gz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Goa is [ˈɡoːa] while gz is [ɡeˈt͡sɛt]. 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 (name vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Goa is recorded at frequency rank #31,080, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈɡoːa]. gz is at rank #43,939, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ɡeˈt͡sɛt].

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 75019, this pair ranks #318,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Goa vs gz

Shared letters: g. Private to "Goa": ao. Private to "gz": z.

"Goa" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "gz" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Goa" for "gz" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Goa" is a name and "gz" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Goa" or "gz" show up more?
"Goa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,080 in our German list, against #43,939 for "gz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Goa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #318,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Goa" and "gz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs gz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #318,500 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list