grãovsgrupoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,346
“grão” frequency rank
#189
“grupo” frequency rank
8535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grão grupo
Definition forma reduzida de grande conjunto de pessoas ou coisas dispostas proximamente e formando um todo

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
grão
5 ch
grupo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grão is /ˈɡɾɐ̃w̃/ while grupo is /ˈɡɾu.pu/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8535, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grão is recorded at frequency rank #8,346, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɾɐ̃w̃/. grupo is at rank #189, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɾu.pu/.

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 8535, this pair ranks #65,193 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of grão vs grupo

Shared letters: gor. Private to "grão": ã. Private to "grupo": pu.

"grão" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "grupo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grupoggrupo · grpuo · grrupo · gruop · gruppo · gurpo · rgupo

Frequency comparison

grão#8,346
grupo#189

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grão" and "grupo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grão" is an adjective and "grupo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grão" or "grupo"?
"grupo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #189 in our Portuguese list, against #8,346 for "grão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering grão vs grupo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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