Which to use
“língua” and “linha” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #536
- “língua” frequency rank
- #582
- “linha” frequency rank
- 1118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | língua | linha |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | órgão da boca, auxiliar da mastigação e deglutição e responsável pela articulação dos sons; órgão da fala | o que tem comprimento sem largura |
Where the eye mixes língua and linha
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. língua runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against linha's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between língua and linha
A purely visual mix-up. língua (/ˈlĩ.ɡwɐ/) and linha (/ˈli.ɲɐ/) 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 1118, 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/. linha is at rank #582, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.ɲɐ/.
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 1118, this pair ranks #74,498 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of língua vs linha
Shared letters: aln. Private to "língua": guí. Private to "linha": hi.
"língua" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "linha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- linha ← ilnha · lihna · linah · linhha · linnha · llinha · lniha
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "língua" and "linha" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "língua" vs "linha" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "língua" and "linha" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "língua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "linha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,498 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "língua" and "linha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lengua vs língua". 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 #74,498 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.