cadeiavscanecaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,838
“cadeia” frequency rank
#14,091
“caneca” frequency rank
15929
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cadeia caneca
Definition local que serve de detenção temporária para criminosos de baixa periculosidade copo com asa, porém, ao contrário da xícara, geralmente maior e não necessita de pires

Where the eye mixes cadeia and caneca

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cadeia (CVCVVV) and caneca (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
cadeia
6 ch
caneca

Visual trap between cadeia and caneca

A purely visual mix-up. cadeia (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɐ/) and caneca (/ˈkɐ.nɛ.kɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15929, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cadeia is recorded at frequency rank #1,838, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɐ/. caneca is at rank #14,091, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɐ.nɛ.kɐ/.

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 15929, this pair ranks #55,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cadeia vs caneca

Shared letters: ace. Private to "cadeia": di. Private to "caneca": n.

"cadeia" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV  ·  "caneca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cadeia ← acdeia · caddeia · cadeai · cadiea · caedia · ccadeia · cdaeia
  • caneca ← acneca · caenca · cancea · caneac · canecca · canneca · ccaneca · cnaeca

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cadeia" and "caneca" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɐ/ versus /ˈkɐ.nɛ.kɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cadeia" or "caneca"?
"cadeia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,838 in our Portuguese list, against #14,091 for "caneca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cadeia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caneca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cadeia" and "caneca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caneca vs conca". 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 #55,781 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