Which to use
“laia” and “lapa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,883
- “laia” frequency rank
- #9,071
- “lapa” frequency rank
- 46954
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laia | lapa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lã | grande pedra ou laje que se sobressai de um rochedo, formando um refúgio |
Where the eye mixes laia and lapa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laia (CVVV) and lapa (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses laia with lapa
A purely visual mix-up. laia (/ˈlaj.ɐ/) and lapa (/ˈla.pɐ/) 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 “laia” becomes p in “lapa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laia is recorded at frequency rank #37,883, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaj.ɐ/. lapa is at rank #9,071, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.pɐ/.
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 46954, this pair ranks #18,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laia vs lapa
Shared letters: al. Private to "laia": i. Private to "lapa": p.
"laia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "lapa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laia" for "lapa" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "laia" or "lapa" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "laia" and "lapa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "laia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lapa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laia" and "lapa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laia vs liana". 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 #18,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.