Grade vs. grelha vs. quadrícula
While grade, grelha, and quadrícula all relate to intersecting lines forming a grid, their usage varies significantly by region. Grade is the general term in Brazil, grelha is the specific term for organizational grids in Portugal (but means barbecue grill in Brazil), and quadrícula specifically refers to a checkered pattern or the small squares within the grid relative to graph paper.
Grade
B1In Brazil, grade is the standard word for any abstract grid, such as a spreadsheet, a schedule, or a matrix of lines. In Portugal, while understood as a grid, it often leans more toward physical barriers like railings, crates, or prison bars.
A grade de programação da TV mudou ontem.
(The TV programming grid changed yesterday.)
Você pode esconder as linhas da grade no Excel.
(You can hide the grid lines in Excel.)
O design foi estruturado sobre uma grade simples.
(The design was structured on a simple grid.)
Os prisioneiros olhavam através da grade.
(The prisoners looked through the grid of bars.)
Grelha
B2In Portugal, grelha is the primary word for an organizational grid, a rubric, a checklist, or a TV schedule. However, in Brazil, grelha is used almost exclusively for a cooking grill (BBQ) or a physical metal grate over a drain, and is never used for abstract lines on a page.
O professor usou uma grelha de avaliação para dar as notas.
(The teacher used an evaluation grid to generate the grades.)
Preencha a grelha com as palavras cruzadas.
(Fill in the grid with the crossword puzzle.)
A grelha de partidas do campeonato já foi publicada.
(The grid of matches for the championship has already been published.)
Ele colocou a carne na grelha.
(He put the meat on the grill.)
Quadrícula
C1Used in both Brazil and Portugal, this word refers to the mesh of a grid or the specific small squares that make up the pattern. It is commonly associated with graph paper, maps, or artistic pixelation.
Desenhe um ponto em cada quadrícula do papel.
(Draw a dot in each small square of the grid paper.)
O arqueólogo dividiu o terreno em uma quadrícula.
(The archaeologist divided the terrain into a grid pattern.)
Este caderno tem folhas de quadrícula.
(This notebook has grid paper sheets.)
Precisamos definir a escala da quadrícula no mapa.
(We need to define the scale of the grid on the map.)
Summary
Use grade for abstract grids and schedules if you are in Brazil. Use grelha for those same abstract grids and schedules if you are in Portugal; avoid using grelha in this context in Brazil, where it implies cooking. Use quadrícula in both countries when discussing the specific checkered pattern or the small squares (cells) found on graph paper.