calhavscapaConfusable pair

Quick tell: calha is a noun, capa is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“calha” is a noun and “capa” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,453
“calha” frequency rank
#1,840
“capa” frequency rank
32293
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calha capa
Definition amarelinha terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo de capar

Where the eye mixes calha and capa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
calha
4 ch
capa

Why the eye confuses calha with capa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calha is /ˈka.ʎɐ/ while capa is /ˈka.pɐ/. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calha is recorded at frequency rank #30,453, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.ʎɐ/. capa is at rank #1,840, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈka.pɐ/.

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 32293, this pair ranks #35,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of calha vs capa

Shared letters: ac. Private to "calha": hl. Private to "capa": p.

"calha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "capa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calhaaclha · cahla · calah · calhha · callha · ccalha · claha
  • capaacpa · caap · cappa · ccapa · cpaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "calha" for "capa" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "calha" is a noun and "capa" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "calha" or "capa"?
"capa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,840 in our Portuguese list, against #30,453 for "calha". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "calha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calha" and "capa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calha vs canja". 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 #35,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list