armvsasmaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#27,355
“arm” frequency rank
#15,737
“asma” frequency rank
43092
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arm asma
Definition pobre doença inflamatória crônica caracterizada por obstrução ao fluxo de ar nas vias respiratórias, cuja causa não está completamente elucidada

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arm and asma apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
arm
4 ch
asma

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: arm is anadjective and asmaanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arm is recorded at frequency rank #27,355, classified as anadj, pronounced /aʁm/ ouvir^(fonte ?). asma is at rank #15,737, tagged as anoun.

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 43092, this pair ranks #22,580 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arm vs asma

Shared letters: am. Private to "arm": r. Private to "asma": s.

"arm" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "asma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • asmaasam · asmma · assma

Frequency comparison

arm#27,355
asma#15,737

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arm" and "asma" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "arm" is an adjective and "asma" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "arm" or "asma"?
"asma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,737 in our Portuguese list, against #27,355 for "arm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arm vs asma

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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