Which to use
“cabrão” is a noun and “cobrar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,163
- “cabrão” frequency rank
- #5,175
- “cobrar” frequency rank
- 43338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabrão | cobrar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o macho da cabra; bode | pedir ou ordenar o recebimento de algo |
Where the eye mixes cabrão and cobrar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cabrão (CVCCVV) and cobrar (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses cabrão with cobrar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cabrão is /kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/ while cobrar is /ko.ˈbɾaχ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabrão is recorded at frequency rank #38,163, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/. cobrar is at rank #5,175, tagged as averb, pronounced /ko.ˈbɾaχ/.
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 43338, this pair ranks #22,305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabrão vs cobrar
Shared letters: abcor. Private to "cabrão": ã. Private to "cobrar": -.
"cabrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "cobrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cobrar ← cborar · ccobrar · cobarr · cobbrar · cobrarr · cobrra · cobrrar · corbar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cabrão" for "cobrar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cabrão" or "cobrar"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabrão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cobrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabrão" and "cobrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabrão vs caução". 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 #22,305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.