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 eye mixes ágil and aia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ágil runs 4 letters (VCVC) against aia's 3 (VVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ágil vs aia
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ágil" and "aia" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ágil" or "aia"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ágil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,516 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ágil" and "aia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs aia". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #9,516 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.