Which to use
“cale” and “clã” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,719
- “cale” frequency rank
- #8,588
- “clã” frequency rank
- 26307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cale | clã |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | calço, cunha, escora, apoio | grupo de famílias que se consideram descendentes dos mesmos ancestrais |
Where the eye mixes cale and clã
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cale with clã
A purely visual mix-up. cale (/kal/) and clã (/ˈklɐ̃/) 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 26307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cale is recorded at frequency rank #17,719, classified as anoun, pronounced /kal/. clã is at rank #8,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɐ̃/.
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 26307, this pair ranks #42,875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cale vs clã
Shared letters: cl. Private to "cale": ae. Private to "clã": ã.
"cale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "clã" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cale ← acle · cael · calle · ccale · clae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cale" and "clã" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cale" or "clã" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cale" and "clã" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clã" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cale" and "clã" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cale vs cárie". 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 #42,875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.