goldvsgulaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gold is a adjective, gula is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#7,161
“gold” frequency rank
#35,619
“gula” frequency rank
42780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gold gula
Definition da cor de ouro desejo excessivo de comer

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
gold
4 ch
gula

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gold is /gəʊld/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while gula is /ˈɡu.lɐ/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gold is recorded at frequency rank #7,161, classified as anadj, pronounced /gəʊld/ ouvir^(fonte ?). gula is at rank #35,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡu.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 42780, this pair ranks #22,945 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gold vs gula

Shared letters: gl. Private to "gold": do. Private to "gula": au.

"gold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "gula" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • goldggold · glod · godl · goldd · golld · ogld
  • gulaggula · glua · gual · gulla · ugla

Frequency comparison

gold#7,161
gula#35,619

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gold" and "gula" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gold" is an adjective and "gula" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gold" or "gula"?
"gold" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,161 in our Portuguese list, against #35,619 for "gula". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gold vs gula

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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