grátisvsgratoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,237
“grátis” frequency rank
#8,345
“grato” frequency rank
12582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grátis grato
Definition gratuito; sem remuneração; de graça qualidade de quem tem gratidão, que está agradecido, reconhecido:

Where the eye mixes grátis and grato

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
grátis
5 ch
grato

Why the eye confuses grátis with grato

A purely visual mix-up. grátis (/ˈɡɾa.t͡ʃis/) and grato (/ˈɡɾa.tu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grátis is recorded at frequency rank #4,237, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɾa.t͡ʃis/. 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 12582, this pair ranks #59,951 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of grátis vs grato

Shared letters: grt. Private to "grátis": isá. Private to "grato": ao.

"grátis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "grato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gratogarto · ggrato · graot · gratto · grrato · grtao · rgato

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "grátis" for "grato" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɡɾa.t͡ʃis/ versus /ˈɡɾa.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "grátis" or "grato"?
"grátis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,237 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grátis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,951 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grátis" and "grato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "GOAT vs grato". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #59,951 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list