GoiásvsgolaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,907
“Goiás” frequency rank
#24,999
“gola” frequency rank
28906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Goiás gola
Definition estado brasileiro localizado ao leste da Região Centro-Oeste; tem como limites os estados de Tocantins ao norte, da Bahia ao leste, de Minas Gerais ao sudeste, de Mato Grosso do Sul a sudeste e o de Mato Grosso a noroeste; sua capital é Goiânia; desmembrado a província de São Paulo ainda no período colonial, de seu território emancipou-se por último o estado do Tocantins o mesmo que ngola

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Goiás
4 ch
gola

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Goiás is /ɡojˈa(j)s/ [ɡoɪ̯ˈa(ɪ̯)s] while gola is /ˈɡɔ.lɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Goiás is recorded at frequency rank #3,907, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡojˈa(j)s/ [ɡoɪ̯ˈa(ɪ̯)s]. gola is at rank #24,999, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɔ.lɐ/.

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 28906, this pair ranks #39,852 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Goiás vs gola

Shared letters: go. Private to "Goiás": isá. Private to "gola": al.

"Goiás" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "gola" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • golaggola · gloa · goal · golla · ogla

Frequency comparison

Goiás#3,907
gola#24,999

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Goiás" and "gola" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Goiás" is a noun and "gola" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Goiás" or "gola"?
"Goiás" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,907 in our Portuguese list, against #24,999 for "gola". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Goiás vs gola

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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