catavscatsConfusable pair

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 eye mixes cata and cats

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cata (CVCV) and cats (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
cata
4 ch
cats

Look-alike desk: cata vs cats

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

  • cata ← acta · caat · catta · ccata · ctaa
  • cats ← acts · catss · catts · ccats · ctas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cata" and "cats" mean the same thing in a sentence?
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.
Frequency check: "cata" vs "cats" - which ranks higher?
"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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,427 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cata" and "cats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cactus vs cats". 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 #6,427 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