Which to use
“caldo” is a noun and “cold” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,677
- “caldo” frequency rank
- #14,538
- “cold” frequency rank
- 28215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caldo | cold |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alimento líquido que se prepara cozendo em água substâncias alimentícias | frio |
Where the eye mixes caldo and cold
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses caldo with cold
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caldo is /ˈkaɫ.du/ while cold is /koʊld/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caldo is recorded at frequency rank #13,677, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkaɫ.du/. cold is at rank #14,538, tagged as anadj, pronounced /koʊld/.
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 28215, this pair ranks #40,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caldo vs cold
Shared letters: cdlo. Private to "caldo": a. Private to "cold": -.
"caldo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caldo" for "cold" ever safe?
Which is more common, "caldo" or "cold"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "caldo" and "cold" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caldo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cold" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caldo" and "cold" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cagão vs caldo". 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 #40,619 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.