Which to use
“água” is a noun and “algum” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #254
- “água” frequency rank
- #371
- “algum” frequency rank
- 625
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | água | algum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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 | um certo |
Letter map: água vs algum
Shared letters muted; letters that set água and algum apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. água runs 4 letters (VCVV) against algum's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - água and algum
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: água is anoun and algumapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 625, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
água is recorded at frequency rank #254, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.gwɐ/. algum is at rank #371, tagged as apron.
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 625, this pair ranks #75,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of água vs algum
Shared letters: agu. Private to "água": á. Private to "algum": lm.
"água" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "algum" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- algum ← aglum · alggum · algmu · algumm · allgum · alugm · lagum
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "água" for "algum" ever safe?
Which is more common, "água" or "algum"?
After this comparison
You've compared "água" and "algum". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "água" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "algum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "água" and "algum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afã vs água". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #75,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.