capvscháConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,259
“cap” frequency rank
#2,711
“chá” frequency rank
9970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cap chá
Definition bode ou carneiro, especialmente velho ou castrado planta da família das Teáceas, originária do Extremo Oriente, cultivada por causa de suas folhas que contêm um alcalóide, a teína (cafeína do chá)

Where the eye mixes cap and chá

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
cap
3 ch
chá

Why the eye confuses cap with chá

A purely visual mix-up. cap (/t͡sap/) and chá (/ˈʃa/) 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 9970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cap is recorded at frequency rank #7,259, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡sap/. chá is at rank #2,711, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃa/.

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 9970, this pair ranks #63,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cap vs chá

Shared letters: c. Private to "cap": ap. Private to "chá": .

"cap" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "chá" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cap" and "chá" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/t͡sap/ versus /ˈʃa/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cap" or "chá"?
"chá" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,711 in our Portuguese list, against #7,259 for "cap". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cap" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chá" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cap" and "chá" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cap vs chau". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #63,274 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