caravscaspaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cara is a preposition, caspa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

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

#195
“cara” frequency rank
#42,827
“caspa” frequency rank
43022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cara caspa
Definition em direção a, para, contra doença cutânea caracterizada pela escamação excessiva de pele morta no couro cabeludo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cara and caspa apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cara
5 ch
caspa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cara is apreposition and caspaanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cara is recorded at frequency rank #195, classified as aprep. caspa is at rank #42,827, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkas.pɐ/.

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 43022, this pair ranks #22,659 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cara vs caspa

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cara": r. Private to "caspa": ps.

"cara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "caspa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cara ← acra · caar · carra · ccara · craa
  • caspa ← acspa · capsa · casap · casppa · casspa · ccaspa · csapa

Frequency comparison

cara#195
caspa#42,827

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cara" and "caspa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cara" is a preposition and "caspa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cara" or "caspa"?
"cara" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #195 in our Portuguese list, against #42,827 for "caspa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cara vs caspa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “cara”; for a noun, it's “caspa”.
  • 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