catavscatsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,681
“cata” frequency rank
#31,281
“cats” frequency rank
62962
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cata cats
Definition busca plural de cat

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
cata
4 ch
cats

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cata (/ˈka.tɐ/) and cats (/kæts/) 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 - a in “cata” becomes s in “cats”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cata is recorded at frequency rank #31,681, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.tɐ/. cats is at rank #31,281, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kæts/.

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 62962, this pair ranks #6,427 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cata vs cats

Shared letters: act. Private to "cata": -. Private to "cats": s.

"cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cataacta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa
  • catsacts · catss · catts · ccats · ctas

Frequency comparison

cata#31,681
cats#31,281

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cata" and "cats" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈka.tɐ/ versus /kæts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cata" or "cats"?
"cats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,281 in our Portuguese list, against #31,681 for "cata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cata vs cats

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 “cata” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list