capavscopasWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,840
“capa” frequency rank
#12,207
“copas” frequency rank
14047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capa copas
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo de capar naipe de cartas de baralho em que cada ponto é representado por um coração vermelho (♥)

Where the eye mixes capa and copas

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

4 ch
capa
5 ch
copas

Look-alike desk: capa vs copas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capa is /ˈka.pɐ/ while copas is /ˈkɔ.pɐʃ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14047, 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/. copas is at rank #12,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔ.pɐʃ/.

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 14047, this pair ranks #58,140 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of capa vs copas

Shared letters: acp. Private to "capa": -. Private to "copas": os.

"capa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "copas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capaacpa · caap · cappa · ccapa · cpaa
  • copasccopas · coaps · copass · coppas · copsa · cpoas · ocpas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capa" and "copas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capa" is a verb and "copas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "capa" or "copas" show up more?
"capa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,840 in our Portuguese list, against #12,207 for "copas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "copas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,140 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capa" and "copas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "copas 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 #58,140 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