linhavsliraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#582
“linha” frequency rank
#13,968
“lira” frequency rank
14550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature linha lira
Definition o que tem comprimento sem largura instrumento musical de cordas dedilhadas

Where the eye mixes linha and lira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. linha 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.

5 ch
linha
4 ch
lira

Look-alike desk: linha vs lira

A purely visual mix-up. linha (/ˈli.ɲɐ/) 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 14550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

linha is recorded at frequency rank #582, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.ɲɐ/. 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 14550, this pair ranks #57,499 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of linha vs lira

Shared letters: ail. Private to "linha": hn. Private to "lira": r.

"linha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linha ← ilnha · lihna · linah · linhha · linnha · llinha · lniha
  • lira ← ilra · liar · lirra · llira · lria

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "linha" and "lira" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈli.ɲɐ/ versus /ˈli.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "linha" vs "lira" - which ranks higher?
"linha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #582 in our Portuguese list, against #13,968 for "lira". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "linha" 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 #57,499 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "linha" 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 #57,499 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