gestovsgratoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gesto is a noun, grato is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,186
“gesto” frequency rank
#8,345
“grato” frequency rank
14531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesto grato
Definition movimento de uma parte do corpo que expressa um significado qualidade de quem tem gratidão, que está agradecido, reconhecido:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gesto and grato apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gesto
5 ch
grato

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gesto is /ˈʒɛʃ.tu/ while grato is /ˈɡɾa.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesto is recorded at frequency rank #6,186, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʒɛʃ.tu/. grato is at rank #8,345, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɾa.tu/.

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 14531, this pair ranks #57,524 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gesto vs grato

Shared letters: got. Private to "gesto": es. Private to "grato": ar.

"gesto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "grato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gestoegsto · gesot · gessto · gestto · getso · ggesto · gseto
  • gratogarto · ggrato · graot · gratto · grrato · grtao · rgato

Frequency comparison

gesto#6,186
grato#8,345

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gesto" and "grato" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gesto" is a noun and "grato" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gesto" or "grato"?
"gesto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,186 in our Portuguese list, against #8,345 for "grato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gesto vs grato

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “gesto”; for an adjective, it's “grato”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gesto” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list