guiavsgulaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,053
“guia” frequency rank
#35,619
“gula” frequency rank
37672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature guia gula
Definition ato ou efeito de guiar desejo excessivo de comer

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
guia
4 ch
gula

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. guia (/ˈɡi.ɐ/) and gula (/ˈɡu.lɐ/) 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 a single letter - i in “guia” becomes l in “gula”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

guia is recorded at frequency rank #2,053, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡi.ɐ/. gula is at rank #35,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡu.lɐ/.

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 37672, this pair ranks #28,895 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of guia vs gula

Shared letters: agu. Private to "guia": i. Private to "gula": l.

"guia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "gula" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • guiagguia · giua · guai · ugia
  • gulaggula · glua · gual · gulla · ugla

Frequency comparison

guia#2,053
gula#35,619

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "guia" and "gula" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɡi.ɐ/ versus /ˈɡu.lɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "guia" or "gula"?
"guia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,053 in our Portuguese list, against #35,619 for "gula". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering guia vs gula

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 “guia” 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