cadelavscautelaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,142
“cadela” frequency rank
#11,408
“cautela” frequency rank
21550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cadela cautela
Definition animal fêmea da espécie Canis lupus familiaris, cujo macho é o cão cuidado para evitar um mal

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cadela and cautela apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
cadela
7 ch
cautela

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cadela (/kɐ.ˈdɛ.lɐ/) and cautela (/kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/) 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 21550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cadela is recorded at frequency rank #10,142, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈdɛ.lɐ/. cautela is at rank #11,408, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/.

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 21550, this pair ranks #48,678 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cadela vs cautela

Shared letters: acel. Private to "cadela": d. Private to "cautela": tu.

"cadela" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cautela" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cadelaacdela · caddela · cadeal · cadella · cadlea · caedla · ccadela · cdaela
  • cautelaacutela · catuela · cauetla · cauteal · cautella · cautlea · cauttela · ccautela

Frequency comparison

cadela#10,142
cautela#11,408

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cadela" and "cautela" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈdɛ.lɐ/ versus /kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cadela" or "cautela"?
"cadela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,142 in our Portuguese list, against #11,408 for "cautela". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cadela vs cautela

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 “cadela” 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