Which to use
“calão” is an adjective and “cata” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,032
- “calão” frequency rank
- #31,681
- “cata” frequency rank
- 70713
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calão | cata |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não trabalha tanto quanto deveria | busca |
Where the eye mixes calão and cata
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. calão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against cata's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses calão with cata
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calão is /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/ while cata is /ˈka.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calão is recorded at frequency rank #39,032, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. cata is at rank #31,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.tɐ/.
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 70713, this pair ranks #3,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of calão vs cata
Shared letters: ac. Private to "calão": loã. Private to "cata": t.
"calão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cata ← acta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "calão" and "cata" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "calão" or "cata"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "calão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calão" and "cata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calão vs ciao". 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 #3,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.