caravscaracaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cara is a preposition, caraca is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

“cara” is a preposition and “caraca” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#195
“cara” frequency rank
#38,169
“caraca” frequency rank
38364
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cara caraca
Definition em direção a, para, contra expressa admiração, espanto; insatisfação, repreensão

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
cara
6 ch
caraca

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cara is apreposition and caracaanintj. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cara” sits inside “caraca”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cara is recorded at frequency rank #195, classified as aprep. caraca is at rank #38,169, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/.

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 38364, this pair ranks #28,112 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cara vs caraca

Shared letters: acr. Private to "cara": -. Private to "caraca": -.

"cara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "caraca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cara ← acra · caar · carra · ccara · craa
  • caraca ← acraca · caarca · caraac · caracca · carcaa · carraca · ccaraca · craaca

Frequency comparison

cara#195
caraca#38,169

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cara" and "caraca" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cara" is a preposition and "caraca" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cara" or "caraca"?
"cara" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #195 in our Portuguese list, against #38,169 for "caraca". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cara vs caraca

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “cara”; for an intj, it's “caraca”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cara” 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