Which to use
“ameixa” is a noun and “areia” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,442
- “ameixa” frequency rank
- #2,988
- “areia” frequency rank
- 31430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ameixa | areia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fruta extraída da ameixeira | que tem cor de areia |
Where the eye mixes ameixa and areia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ameixa runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against areia's 5 (VCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ameixa and areia
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ameixa is /a.ˈmej.ʃɐ/ while areia is /ɐ.ˈɾɐj.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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ameixa is recorded at frequency rank #28,442, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈmej.ʃɐ/. areia is at rank #2,988, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.ˈɾɐj.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 31430, this pair ranks #36,653 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ameixa vs areia
Shared letters: aei. Private to "ameixa": mx. Private to "areia": r.
"ameixa" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "areia" · 5 letters · shape VCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ameixa" for "areia" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ameixa" or "areia" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ameixa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "areia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,653 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ameixa" and "areia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ameixa vs ateia". 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 #36,653 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.