ágilvsaiaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,177
“ágil” frequency rank
#39,961
“aia” frequency rank
57138
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ágil aia
Definition ligeiro, pronto, veloz criada para companhia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ágil and aia apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ágil
3 ch
aia

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ágil is /ˈa.ʒiɫ/ while aia is /ˈaj.ɐ/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ágil is recorded at frequency rank #17,177, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈa.ʒiɫ/. aia is at rank #39,961, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaj.ɐ/.

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 57138, this pair ranks #9,516 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ágil vs aia

Shared letters: i. Private to "ágil": glá. Private to "aia": a.

"ágil" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "aia" · 3 letters · shape VVV

Frequency comparison

ágil#17,177
aia#39,961

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ágil" and "aia" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ágil" is an adjective and "aia" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ágil" or "aia"?
"ágil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,177 in our Portuguese list, against #39,961 for "aia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ágil vs aia

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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