cadeira vs chaleira, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,820
“cadeira” frequency rank: #40,039
“chaleira” frequency rank: 42859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cadeira	chaleira
Definition	objeto do mobiliário sobre o qual se assenta, normalmente composta por quatro pés, um assento e um encosto	vaso metálico ou cerâmico, por vezes elétrico, onde se aquece ou ferve água

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cadeira and chaleira apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

cadeira

8 ch

chaleira

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cadeira (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/) and chaleira (/ʃɐ.ˈlɐj.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 42859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cadeira is recorded at frequency rank #2,820, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/. chaleira is at rank #40,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃɐ.ˈlɐj.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 42859, this pair ranks #22,853 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cadeira vs chaleira

Shared letters: aceir. Private to "cadeira": d. Private to "chaleira": hl.

"cadeira" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "chaleira" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

cadeira ← acdeira · caddeira · cadeiar · cadeirra · caderia · cadiera · caedira · ccadeira
chaleira ← cahleira · cchaleira · chaelira · chaleiar · chaleirra · chaleria · chaliera · challeira

Frequency comparison

cadeira#2,820

chaleira#40,039

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cadeira" and "chaleira" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/ versus /ʃɐ.ˈlɐj.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "cadeira" or "chaleira"?

"cadeira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,820 in our Portuguese list, against #40,039 for "chaleira". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cadeira vs chaleira

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 “cadeira” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable