cinzavscinzasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cinza” and “cinzas” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,392
“cinza” frequency rank
#7,120
“cinzas” frequency rank
12512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cinza cinzas
Definition cuja cor é o cinza² forma plural de cinza

Where the eye mixes cinza and cinzas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cinza runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against cinzas's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
cinza
6 ch
cinzas

Look-alike desk: cinza vs cinzas

A purely visual mix-up. cinza ([ˈsĩŋza], plural: [ˈsĩŋzas]) and cinzas (/ˈsĩⁿ.zɐs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “cinza” sits inside “cinzas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cinza is recorded at frequency rank #5,392, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsĩŋza], plural: [ˈsĩŋzas]. cinzas is at rank #7,120, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsĩⁿ.zɐs/.

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 12512, this pair ranks #60,026 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cinza vs cinzas

Shared letters: acinz. Private to "cinza": -. Private to "cinzas": s.

"cinza" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cinzas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cinza ← ccinza · cinaz · cinnza · cinzza · cizna · cniza · icnza
  • cinzas ← ccinzas · cinazs · cinnzas · cinzass · cinzsa · cinzzas · ciznas · cnizas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cinza" and "cinzas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsĩŋza], plural: [ˈsĩŋzas] versus /ˈsĩⁿ.zɐs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cinza" or "cinzas"?
"cinza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,392 in our Portuguese list, against #7,120 for "cinzas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cinza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cinzas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,026 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cinza" and "cinzas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cinza vs conca". 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 #60,026 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list