grave vs greve, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,096
“grave” frequency rank: #3,406
“greve” frequency rank: 5502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	grave	greve
Definition	som de baixa frequência, no limite inferior da audição humana	paralisação das atividades de uma escola, fábrica, etc enquanto os alunos ou funcionários esperam que suas reivindicações sejam atendidas pela diretoria do estabelecimento

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

grave

5 ch

greve

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

grave and greve form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “grave” becomes e in “greve” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grave is recorded at frequency rank #2,096, classified as anadj. greve is at rank #3,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɾɛ.vɨ/.

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 5502, this pair ranks #69,093 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

grave#2,096

greve#3,406

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No, "grave" and "greve" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering grave vs greve

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “grave”; for a noun, it's “greve”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “grave” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable