gratovsgraxaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#8,345
“grato” frequency rank
#36,045
“graxa” frequency rank
44390
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grato graxa
Definition qualidade de quem tem gratidão, que está agradecido, reconhecido: mistura de corantes com gordura para dar lustro ao cabedal

Where the eye mixes grato and graxa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. grato and graxa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
grato
5 ch
graxa

Look-alike desk: grato vs graxa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grato is /ˈɡɾa.tu/ while graxa is /ˈɡɾa.ʃɐ/. 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 44390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grato is recorded at frequency rank #8,345, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɾa.tu/. graxa is at rank #36,045, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɾa.ʃɐ/.

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 44390, this pair ranks #21,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grato vs graxa

Shared letters: agr. Private to "grato": ot. Private to "graxa": x.

"grato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "graxa" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grato ← garto · ggrato · graot · gratto · grrato · grtao · rgato
  • graxa ← garxa · ggraxa · graax · graxxa · grraxa · grxaa · rgaxa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grato" and "graxa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grato" is an adjective and "graxa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "grato" vs "graxa" - which ranks higher?
"grato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,345 in our Portuguese list, against #36,045 for "graxa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "graxa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grato" and "graxa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graxa vs grua". 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 #21,108 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