Which to use
“área” is a noun and “areia” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #294
- “área” frequency rank
- #2,988
- “areia” frequency rank
- 3282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | área | areia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | medida de uma superfície | que tem cor de areia |
Where the eye mixes área and areia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between área and areia
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: área is /ˈa.ɾjɐ/ 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 3282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
área is recorded at frequency rank #294, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.ɾjɐ/. 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 3282, this pair ranks #71,884 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of área vs areia
Shared letters: aer. Private to "área": á. Private to "areia": i.
"área" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "areia" · 5 letters · shape VCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- areia ← aeria · areai · ariea · arreia · raeia
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "área" for "areia" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "área" or "areia" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "área" and "areia" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "área" 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 #71,884 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "área" and "areia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apneia vs areia". 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 #71,884 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.