caosvscataConfusable pair

Which to use

“caos” and “cata” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,128
“caos” frequency rank
#31,681
“cata” frequency rank
35809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caos cata
Definition espaço limitado e amorfo que precedeu à criação do cosmo busca

Where the eye mixes caos and cata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. caos (CVVC) and cata (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
caos
4 ch
cata

Look-alike desk: caos vs cata

A purely visual mix-up. caos (/ˈkaws/) and cata (/ˈka.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caos is recorded at frequency rank #4,128, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkaws/. 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 35809, this pair ranks #31,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caos vs cata

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caos": os. Private to "cata": t.

"caos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caos ← acos · caoss · ccaos · coas
  • cata ← acta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caos" for "cata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkaws/ versus /ˈka.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caos" or "cata"?
"caos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,128 in our Portuguese list, against #31,681 for "cata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "caos" and "cata" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caos" 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 #31,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caos" 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 #31,157 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