capavscataWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,840
“capa” frequency rank
#31,681
“cata” frequency rank
33521
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capa cata
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo de capar busca

Where the eye mixes capa and cata

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

4 ch
capa
4 ch
cata

Visual trap between capa and cata

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capa is /ˈka.pɐ/ while cata is /ˈka.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - p in “capa” becomes t in “cata”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capa is recorded at frequency rank #1,840, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈka.pɐ/. 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 33521, this pair ranks #33,975 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capa vs cata

Shared letters: ac. Private to "capa": p. Private to "cata": t.

"capa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capaacpa · caap · cappa · ccapa · cpaa
  • cataacta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "capa" for "cata" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capa" is a verb and "cata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "capa" vs "cata" - which ranks higher?
"capa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,840 in our Portuguese list, against #31,681 for "cata". 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 "capa" 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 #33,975 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capa" 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 #33,975 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