caracavscartaConfusable pair

Quick tell: caraca is a intj, carta is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,169
“caraca” frequency rank
#1,042
“carta” frequency rank
39211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caraca carta
Definition expressa admiração, espanto; insatisfação, repreensão documento escrito que se endereça a uma pessoa

Where the eye mixes caraca and carta

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

6 ch
caraca
5 ch
carta

Visual trap between caraca and carta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caraca is /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/ while carta is /ˈkaɾ.tɐ/. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caraca is recorded at frequency rank #38,169, classified as anintj, pronounced /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/. carta is at rank #1,042, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkaɾ.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 39211, this pair ranks #27,093 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caraca vs carta

Shared letters: acr. Private to "caraca": -. Private to "carta": t.

"caraca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "carta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caracaacraca · caarca · caraac · caracca · carcaa · carraca · ccaraca · craaca
  • cartaacrta · carat · carrta · cartta · catra · ccarta · crata

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caraca" and "carta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caraca" is an intj and "carta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "caraca" vs "carta" - which ranks higher?
"carta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,042 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "caraca" and "carta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caraca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "carta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,093 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caraca" and "carta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caraca vs carapaça". 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 #27,093 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