Which to use
“cata” and “chama” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,681
- “cata” frequency rank
- #781
- “chama” frequency rank
- 32462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cata | chama |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | busca | labareda que se eleva dos materiais incandescentes, flama |
Where the eye mixes cata and chama
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cata with chama
A purely visual mix-up. cata (/ˈka.tɐ/) and chama (/ˈʃɐ.mɐ/) 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 32462, 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/. chama is at rank #781, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃɐ.mɐ/.
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 32462, this pair ranks #35,343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cata vs chama
Shared letters: ac. Private to "cata": t. Private to "chama": hm.
"cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "chama" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cata" and "chama" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cata" or "chama" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chama" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cata" and "chama" 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 #35,343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.