gaiolavsgaivotaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,818
“gaiola” frequency rank
#30,567
“gaivota” frequency rank
46385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gaiola gaivota
Definition objeto envolto por grades destinado a prender pássaros ou outros animais domésticos ave palmípede da família dos Larídeos

Where the eye mixes gaiola and gaivota

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gaiola runs 6 letters (CVVVCV) against gaivota's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
gaiola
7 ch
gaivota

Look-alike desk: gaiola vs gaivota

A purely visual mix-up. gaiola (/ɡaj.ˈɔ.lɐ/) and gaivota (/ɡaj.ˈvɔ.tɐ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gaiola is recorded at frequency rank #15,818, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡaj.ˈɔ.lɐ/. gaivota is at rank #30,567, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡaj.ˈvɔ.tɐ/.

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 46385, this pair ranks #18,914 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gaiola vs gaivota

Shared letters: agio. Private to "gaiola": l. Private to "gaivota": tv.

"gaiola" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV  ·  "gaivota" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gaiola ← agiola · gailoa · gaioal · gaiolla · gaoila · ggaiola · giaola
  • gaivota ← agivota · gaiovta · gaivoat · gaivotta · gaivtoa · gaivvota · gaviota · ggaivota

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gaiola" and "gaivota" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ɡaj.ˈɔ.lɐ/ versus /ɡaj.ˈvɔ.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gaiola" vs "gaivota" - which ranks higher?
"gaiola" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,818 in our Portuguese list, against #30,567 for "gaivota". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gaiola" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gaivota" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,914 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gaiola" and "gaivota" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gaivota vs gaveta". 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 #18,914 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