carmavscataTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,094
“carma” frequency rank
#31,681
“cata” frequency rank
63775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carma cata
Definition 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 busca

Where the eye mixes carma and cata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
carma
4 ch
cata

Visual trap between carma and cata

A purely visual mix-up. carma (/ˈkɐɾmɐ/) and cata (/ˈka.tɐ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carma is recorded at frequency rank #32,094, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɐɾmɐ/. 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 63775, this pair ranks #6,051 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of carma vs cata

Shared letters: ac. Private to "carma": mr. Private to "cata": t.

"carma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carmaacrma · camra · caram · carmma · carrma · ccarma · crama
  • cataacta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "carma" and "cata" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkɐɾmɐ/ versus /ˈka.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "carma" or "cata"?
"cata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,681 in our Portuguese list, against #32,094 for "carma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "carma" 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 #6,051 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "carma" and "cata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carma vs cerda". 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 #6,051 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