cabeçalhovscascalhoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,882
“cabeçalho” frequency rank
#25,586
“cascalho” frequency rank
50468
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabeçalho cascalho
Definition bloco de informações na parte superior de um documento pequenas lascas de pedra

Where the eye mixes cabeçalho and cascalho

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

9 ch
cabeçalho
8 ch
cascalho

Why the eye confuses cabeçalho with cascalho

A purely visual mix-up. cabeçalho (/kɐ.bɨ.ˈsa.ʎu/) and cascalho (/kɐʃ.ˈka.ʎu/) 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 50468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabeçalho is recorded at frequency rank #24,882, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.bɨ.ˈsa.ʎu/. cascalho is at rank #25,586, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐʃ.ˈka.ʎu/.

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 50468, this pair ranks #14,491 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cabeçalho vs cascalho

Shared letters: achlo. Private to "cabeçalho": beç. Private to "cascalho": s.

"cabeçalho" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV  ·  "cascalho" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cascalhoacscalho · cacsalho · casaclho · cascahlo · cascalhho · cascallho · cascaloh · casccalho

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cabeçalho" for "cascalho" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.bɨ.ˈsa.ʎu/ versus /kɐʃ.ˈka.ʎu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cabeçalho" vs "cascalho" - which ranks higher?
"cabeçalho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,882 in our Portuguese list, against #25,586 for "cascalho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cabeçalho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cascalho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,491 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cabeçalho" and "cascalho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabeçalho vs cabeção". 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 #14,491 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