ágata vs água, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ágata” and “água” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,234
“ágata” frequency rank: #254
“água” frequency rank: 43488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ágata	água
Definition	variedade microcristalina de quartzo, cujo tipo mais comum é a calcedónia/calcedônia	substância (H₂O) líquida e incolor, insípida e inodora, essencial para a vida da maior parte dos organismos vivos e excelente solvente para muitas outras substâncias; óxido de hidrogênio

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

ágata

4 ch

água

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ágata ([ˈa.ga.ta], Plural: [ˈa.ga.tas]) and água (/ˈa.gwɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ágata is recorded at frequency rank #43,234, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈa.ga.ta], Plural: [ˈa.ga.tas]. água is at rank #254, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.gwɐ/.

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 43488, this pair ranks #22,138 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ágata vs água

Shared letters: agá. Private to "ágata": t. Private to "água": u.

"ágata" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "água" · 4 letters · shape VCVV

Frequency comparison

ágata#43,234

água#254

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ágata" and "água" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈa.ga.ta], Plural: [ˈa.ga.tas] versus /ˈa.gwɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "ágata" or "água"?

"água" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #254 in our Portuguese list, against #43,234 for "ágata". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ágata vs água

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ágata” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable