Which to use
“cão” is an adjective and “cata” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,065
- “cão” frequency rank
- #31,681
- “cata” frequency rank
- 34746
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cão | cata |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cruel, brutal, dominador | busca |
Where the eye mixes cão and cata
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cão vs cata
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cão is /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/ 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 34746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cão is recorded at frequency rank #3,065, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/. 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 34746, this pair ranks #32,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cão vs cata
Shared letters: c. Private to "cão": oã. Private to "cata": at.
"cão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cata ← acta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cão" and "cata" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cão" or "cata"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cão" and "cata" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cão" 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 #32,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cão" and "cata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cata vs copta". 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 #32,449 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.