capetavscataWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#42,823
“capeta” frequency rank
#31,681
“cata” frequency rank
74504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capeta cata
Definition sapeca, peralta, endiabrado busca

Where the eye mixes capeta and cata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
capeta
4 ch
cata

Visual trap between capeta and cata

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capeta is \ka.'pe.ta\ while cata is /ˈka.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 74504, 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\. 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 74504, this pair ranks #2,512 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of capeta vs cata

Shared letters: act. Private to "capeta": ep. Private to "cata": -.

"capeta" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capetaacpeta · caepta · capeat · capetta · cappeta · captea · ccapeta · cpaeta
  • cataacta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "capeta" and "cata" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capeta" is an adjective and "cata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "capeta" or "cata"?
"cata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,681 in our Portuguese list, against #42,823 for "capeta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "capeta" 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 #2,512 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capeta" and "cata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capeta 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 #2,512 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