losevslousaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lose is a adjective, lousa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lose” is an adjective and “lousa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,921
“lose” frequency rank
#32,242
“lousa” frequency rank
60163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lose lousa
Definition frouxo quadro-negro

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lose and lousa apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lose
5 ch
lousa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lose is anadjective and lousaanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lose is recorded at frequency rank #27,921, classified as anadj. lousa is at rank #32,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlow.zɐ/.

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 60163, this pair ranks #7,808 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lose vs lousa

Shared letters: los. Private to "lose": e. Private to "lousa": au.

"lose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lousa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • losellose · loes · losse · lsoe · olse
  • lousallousa · losua · louas · loussa · luosa · olusa

Frequency comparison

lose#27,921
lousa#32,242

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lose" and "lousa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lose" is an adjective and "lousa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lose" or "lousa"?
"lose" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,921 in our Portuguese list, against #32,242 for "lousa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lose vs lousa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “lose”; for a noun, it's “lousa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lose” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list