Common Mistakes: Not To Be Confused… Degrau, Grau or Grão ?

Degrau, Grau, Grão : These are three similar sounding words that many people mix up when learning Brazilian Portuguese. Especially misleading is that “DEgraus” does not translate to “DEgrees.” But instead, the word for “degrees”, when talking about the weather, is “graus” and “degraus”… it just means stairs.

o degrau(s) – a stair or step (specifically referring to the individual steps that your staircase is made up of)

o grau(s) – the degree (temperature) / grade (of something – i.e. “the degree to which….”)

grão(s) – grain