cargavscarmaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“carga” and “carma” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,309
“carga” frequency rank
#32,094
“carma” frequency rank
34403
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carga carma
Definition o que pode ser ou é transportado por pessoas, animais ou veículos segundo o hinduísmo e o budismo, a lei de causa e efeito, na qual todas as ações, boas ou más, de uma pessoa geram reações correspondentes nesta vida ou em encarnações futuras

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
carga
5 ch
carma

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. carga (/ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/) and carma (/ˈkɐɾmɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - g in “carga” becomes m in “carma”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carga is recorded at frequency rank #2,309, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/. carma is at rank #32,094, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɐɾmɐ/.

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 34403, this pair ranks #32,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of carga vs carma

Shared letters: acr. Private to "carga": g. Private to "carma": m.

"carga" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "carma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cargaacrga · cagra · carag · cargga · carrga · ccarga · craga
  • carmaacrma · camra · caram · carmma · carrma · ccarma · crama

Frequency comparison

carga#2,309
carma#32,094

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "carga" and "carma" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/ versus /ˈkɐɾmɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "carga" or "carma"?
"carga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,309 in our Portuguese list, against #32,094 for "carma". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering carga vs carma

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “carga” 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