Which to use
“cavala” and “cevada” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,922
- “cavala” frequency rank
- #28,498
- “cevada” frequency rank
- 64420
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cavala | cevada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | peixe teleósteo da família dos escombrídeos | planta (Hordeum vulgare) da família das gramíneas, cultivada como cereal |
Where the eye mixes cavala and cevada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cavala with cevada
A purely visual mix-up. cavala (/kɐ.ˈva.lɐ/) and cevada (/sɨ.ˈva.dɐ/) 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 64420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cavala is recorded at frequency rank #35,922, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈva.lɐ/. cevada is at rank #28,498, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɨ.ˈva.dɐ/.
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 64420, this pair ranks #5,788 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cavala vs cevada
Shared letters: acv. Private to "cavala": l. Private to "cevada": de.
"cavala" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cevada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cavala" and "cevada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cavala" or "cevada" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cavala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cevada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,788 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cavala" and "cevada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cavala vs cavalgar". 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 #5,788 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.