cachoeiravscapoeiraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,726
“cachoeira” frequency rank
#15,523
“capoeira” frequency rank
24249
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cachoeira capoeira
Definition queda-d'água luta esportiva desenvolvida no Brasil, originariamente praticada pelos negros escravos nas senzalas da Bahia, Pernambuco e Rio de Janeiro

Where the eye mixes cachoeira and capoeira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cachoeira runs 9 letters (CVCCVVVCV) against capoeira's 8 (CVCVVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
cachoeira
8 ch
capoeira

Look-alike desk: cachoeira vs capoeira

A purely visual mix-up. cachoeira (/kɐ.ˈʃwɐj.ɾɐ/) and capoeira (/kɐ.ˈpwɐj.ɾɐ/) 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 24249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cachoeira is recorded at frequency rank #8,726, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈʃwɐj.ɾɐ/. capoeira is at rank #15,523, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈpwɐj.ɾɐ/.

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 24249, this pair ranks #45,416 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cachoeira vs capoeira

Shared letters: aceior. Private to "cachoeira": h. Private to "capoeira": p.

"cachoeira" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCV  ·  "capoeira" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cachoeiraacchoeira · cacchoeira · cacheoira · cachhoeira · cachoeiar · cachoeirra · cachoeria · cachoiera
  • capoeiraacpoeira · caopeira · capeoira · capoeiar · capoeirra · capoeria · capoiera · cappoeira

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cachoeira" and "capoeira" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈʃwɐj.ɾɐ/ versus /kɐ.ˈpwɐj.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cachoeira" or "capoeira"?
"cachoeira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,726 in our Portuguese list, against #15,523 for "capoeira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "cachoeira" and "capoeira" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cachoeira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capoeira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,416 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cachoeira" and "capoeira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caldeira vs capoeira". 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 #45,416 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