grande vs grave, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#100
“grande” frequency rank: #2,096
“grave” frequency rank: 2196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	grande	grave
Definition	que tem dimensões mais que ordinárias	som de baixa frequência, no limite inferior da audição humana

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set grande and grave apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

grande

5 ch

grave

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

grande and grave are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grande is recorded at frequency rank #100, classified as anadj, pronounced ˈgɾɐ̃n.d͡ʒɪ. grave is at rank #2,096, tagged as anadj.

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 2196, this pair ranks #73,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of grande vs grave

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "grande": dn. Private to "grave": v.

"grande" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

grande ← garnde · ggrande · gradne · grandde · graned · grannde · grnade · grrande
grave ← garve · ggrave · graev · gravve · grrave · grvae · rgave

Frequency comparison

grande#100

grave#2,096

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grande" and "grave" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "grande" or "grave"?

"grande" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #100 in our Portuguese list, against #2,096 for "grave". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering grande vs grave

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “grande” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable