Which to use
“cata” is a noun and “cito” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,681
- “cata” frequency rank
- #25,237
- “cito” frequency rank
- 56918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cata | cito |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | busca | fazer mover-se, excitar. |
Where the eye mixes cata and cito
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cata and cito follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cata with cito
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cata is /ˈka.tɐ/ while cito is /ˈki.toː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56918, 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/. cito is at rank #25,237, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈki.toː/.
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 56918, this pair ranks #9,652 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cata vs cito
Shared letters: ct. Private to "cata": a. Private to "cito": io.
"cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cito" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cata" and "cito" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cata" or "cito"?
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 "cata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,652 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cata" and "cito" 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 #9,652 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.