cabravscabrãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,222
“cabra” frequency rank
#38,163
“cabrão” frequency rank
49385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabra cabrão
Definition quadrúpede mamífero e ruminante com numerosas raças selvagens o macho da cabra; bode

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cabra and cabrão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cabra
6 ch
cabrão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cabra (/ˈka.bɾɐ/) and cabrão (/kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/) 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 49385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabra is recorded at frequency rank #11,222, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.bɾɐ/. cabrão is at rank #38,163, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/.

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 49385, this pair ranks #15,634 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cabra vs cabrão

Shared letters: abcr. Private to "cabra": -. Private to "cabrão": .

"cabra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cabrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabraacbra · cabar · cabbra · cabrra · carba · cbara · ccabra

Frequency comparison

cabra#11,222
cabrão#38,163

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cabra" and "cabrão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈka.bɾɐ/ versus /kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cabra" or "cabrão"?
"cabra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,222 in our Portuguese list, against #38,163 for "cabrão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cabra vs cabrão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cabra” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list