regravsrelvaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,594
“regra” frequency rank
#25,464
“relva” frequency rank
28058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regra relva
Definition preceito, norma ou lei erva rasteira

Where the eye mixes regra and relva

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

5 ch
regra
5 ch
relva

Look-alike desk: regra vs relva

A purely visual mix-up. regra (/ˈRɛ.ɡɾɐ/) and relva (/ˈRɛɫ.vɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regra is recorded at frequency rank #2,594, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɛ.ɡɾɐ/. relva is at rank #25,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɛɫ.vɐ/.

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 28058, this pair ranks #40,815 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regra vs relva

Shared letters: aer. Private to "regra": g. Private to "relva": lv.

"regra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "relva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regraergra · reggra · regrra · rerga · rgera · rregra
  • relvaerlva · relav · rellva · relvva · revla · rleva · rrelva

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "regra" and "relva" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈRɛ.ɡɾɐ/ versus /ˈRɛɫ.vɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "regra" vs "relva" - which ranks higher?
"regra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,594 in our Portuguese list, against #25,464 for "relva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "regra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,815 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regra" and "relva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reles vs relva". 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 #40,815 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