tíbiavstiraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,413
“tíbia” frequency rank
#1,953
“tira” frequency rank
41366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tíbia tira
Definition flauta pastoril retalho ou pedaço de pano, papel ou outro material, mais comprido que largo

Where the eye mixes tíbia and tira

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

5 ch
tíbia
4 ch
tira

Visual trap between tíbia and tira

A purely visual mix-up. tíbia (/ˈt͡ʃi.bi.ɐ/ [ˈt͡ʃi.bɪ.ɐ], AFI: /ˈt͡ʃi.bjɐ/ (coloquial)) and tira (/ˈt͡ʃi.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 41366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tíbia is recorded at frequency rank #39,413, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃi.bi.ɐ/ [ˈt͡ʃi.bɪ.ɐ], AFI: /ˈt͡ʃi.bjɐ/ (coloquial). tira is at rank #1,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃi.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 41366, this pair ranks #24,549 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tíbia vs tira

Shared letters: ait. Private to "tíbia": . Private to "tira": r.

"tíbia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "tira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tiraitra · tiar · tria · ttira

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tíbia" for "tira" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈt͡ʃi.bi.ɐ/ [ˈt͡ʃi.bɪ.ɐ], AFI: /ˈt͡ʃi.bjɐ/ (coloquial) versus /ˈt͡ʃi.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tíbia" vs "tira" - which ranks higher?
"tira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,953 in our Portuguese list, against #39,413 for "tíbia". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tíbia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,549 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tíbia" and "tira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tíbia vs titio". 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 #24,549 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