gamavsgramaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,333
“gama” frequency rank
#6,662
“grama” frequency rank
9995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gama grama
Definition série contínua de grandezas mensuráveis planta rasteira da família das gramíneas

Where the eye mixes gama and grama

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
gama
5 ch
grama

Why the eye confuses gama with grama

A purely visual mix-up. gama (/ˈɡɐ.mɐ/) and grama (/ˈgɾã.ma/) 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 9995, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gama is recorded at frequency rank #3,333, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɐ.mɐ/. grama is at rank #6,662, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈgɾã.ma/.

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 9995, this pair ranks #63,244 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gama vs grama

Shared letters: agm. Private to "gama": -. Private to "grama": r.

"gama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "grama" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gamaagma · gaam · gamma · ggama · gmaa
  • gramagarma · ggrama · graam · gramma · grmaa · grrama · rgama

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gama" for "grama" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɡɐ.mɐ/ versus /ˈgɾã.ma/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gama" vs "grama" - which ranks higher?
"gama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,333 in our Portuguese list, against #6,662 for "grama". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grama" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,244 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gama" and "grama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grama vs grua". 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 #63,244 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