lapavsluaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,071
“lapa” frequency rank
#1,619
“lua” frequency rank
10690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lapa lua
Definition grande pedra ou laje que se sobressai de um rochedo, formando um refúgio satélite natural da Terra, que se destaca no céu durante a noite

Where the eye mixes lapa and lua

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lapa
3 ch
lua

Look-alike desk: lapa vs lua

A purely visual mix-up. lapa (/ˈla.pɐ/) and lua (/'lua/) 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 10690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lapa is recorded at frequency rank #9,071, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.pɐ/. lua is at rank #1,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'lua/.

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 10690, this pair ranks #62,343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lapa vs lua

Shared letters: al. Private to "lapa": p. Private to "lua": u.

"lapa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lua" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lapaalpa · laap · lappa · llapa · lpaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lapa" and "lua" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈla.pɐ/ versus /'lua/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lapa" vs "lua" - which ranks higher?
"lua" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,619 in our Portuguese list, against #9,071 for "lapa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "lapa" and "lua" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lapa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lapa" and "lua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lapa 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 #62,343 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