lui vs lupa, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“lui” is a verb and “lupa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,790
“lui” frequency rank: #30,241
“lupa” frequency rank: 65031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	lui	lupa
Definition	alugar (tomar de aluguel)	lente convergente que aumenta o diâmetro aparente dos objetos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lui and lupa apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

lui

4 ch

lupa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lui is /ˈlu.i/. while lupa is /ˈlu.pɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lui is recorded at frequency rank #34,790, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlu.i/.. lupa is at rank #30,241, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlu.pɐ/.

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 65031, this pair ranks #5,551 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lui vs lupa

Shared letters: lu. Private to "lui": i. Private to "lupa": ap.

"lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "lupa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

lupa ← llupa · lpua · luap · luppa · ulpa

Frequency comparison

lui#34,790

lupa#30,241

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lui" and "lupa" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lui" is a verb and "lupa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "lui" or "lupa"?

"lupa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,241 in our Portuguese list, against #34,790 for "lui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lui vs lupa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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