Which to use
“cata” and “cave” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,681
- “cata” frequency rank
- #17,725
- “cave” frequency rank
- 49406
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cata | cave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | busca | pavimento de uma casa abaixo do leito da rua |
Where the eye mixes cata and cave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cata and cave
A purely visual mix-up. cata (/ˈka.tɐ/) and cave (/ˈka.vɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49406, 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/. cave is at rank #17,725, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.vɨ/.
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 49406, this pair ranks #15,597 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cata vs cave
Shared letters: ac. Private to "cata": t. Private to "cave": ev.
"cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cata" and "cave" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cata" or "cave" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,597 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cata" and "cave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cata vs copta". 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 #15,597 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.