capetavscapitãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: capeta is a adjective, capitão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“capeta” is an adjective and “capitão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,823
“capeta” frequency rank
#1,768
“capitão” frequency rank
44591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capeta capitão
Definition sapeca, peralta, endiabrado chefe militar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set capeta and capitão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
capeta
7 ch
capitão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capeta is \ka.'pe.ta\ while capitão is /kɐ.pi.ˈtɐ̃w̃/. 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 44591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capeta is recorded at frequency rank #42,823, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.'pe.ta\. capitão is at rank #1,768, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.pi.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.

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 44591, this pair ranks #20,859 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capeta vs capitão

Shared letters: acpt. Private to "capeta": e. Private to "capitão": ioã.

"capeta" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "capitão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capetaacpeta · caepta · capeat · capetta · cappeta · captea · ccapeta · cpaeta

Frequency comparison

capeta#42,823
capitão#1,768

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capeta" and "capitão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capeta" is an adjective and "capitão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "capeta" or "capitão"?
"capitão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,768 in our Portuguese list, against #42,823 for "capeta". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering capeta vs capitão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “capeta”; for a noun, it's “capitão”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “capeta” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list