Which to use
“letra” and “lira” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,238
- “letra” frequency rank
- #13,968
- “lira” frequency rank
- 16206
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | letra | lira |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | representação gráfica dos sons de um idioma | instrumento musical de cordas dedilhadas |
Where the eye mixes letra and lira
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. letra runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against lira's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between letra and lira
A purely visual mix-up. letra (/ˈle.tɾɐ/) and lira (/ˈli.ɾɐ/) 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 16206, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
letra is recorded at frequency rank #2,238, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈle.tɾɐ/. lira is at rank #13,968, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.ɾɐ/.
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 16206, this pair ranks #55,412 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of letra vs lira
Shared letters: alr. Private to "letra": et. Private to "lira": i.
"letra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "letra" and "lira" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "letra" vs "lira" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "letra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,412 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "letra" and "lira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lira vs listra". 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 #55,412 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.