Which to use
“língua” and “linguiça” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #536
- “língua” frequency rank
- #22,373
- “linguiça” frequency rank
- 22909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | língua | linguiça |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | órgão da boca, auxiliar da mastigação e deglutição e responsável pela articulação dos sons; órgão da fala | espécie de chouriço delgado, de carne de porco |
Where the eye mixes língua and linguiça
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. língua runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against linguiça's 8 (CVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses língua with linguiça
A purely visual mix-up. língua (/ˈlĩ.ɡwɐ/) and linguiça (/lĩ.ˈɡwi.sɐ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
língua is recorded at frequency rank #536, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlĩ.ɡwɐ/. linguiça is at rank #22,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lĩ.ˈɡwi.sɐ/.
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 22909, this pair ranks #47,021 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of língua vs linguiça
Shared letters: aglnu. Private to "língua": í. Private to "linguiça": iç.
"língua" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "linguiça" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "língua" for "linguiça" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "língua" or "linguiça" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "língua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "linguiça" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,021 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "língua" and "linguiça" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lengua vs língua". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #47,021 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.