cedovscelaConfusable pair

Quick tell: cedo is a adverb, cela is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cedo” is an adverb and “cela” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,043
“cedo” frequency rank
#7,875
“cela” frequency rank
8918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cedo cela
Definition Antes da hora desejada ou costumeira, prematuramente; aposento de prisioneiros

Where the eye mixes cedo and cela

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cedo
4 ch
cela

Visual trap between cedo and cela

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cedo is /ˈse.du/ while cela is /ˈsɛ.la/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cedo is recorded at frequency rank #1,043, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈse.du/. cela is at rank #7,875, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛ.la/.

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 8918, this pair ranks #64,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cedo vs cela

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cedo": do. Private to "cela": al.

"cedo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cedoccedo · cdeo · ceddo · ceod · ecdo
  • celaccela · ceal · cella · clea · ecla

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cedo" and "cela" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cedo" is an adverb and "cela" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cedo" vs "cela" - which ranks higher?
"cedo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,043 in our Portuguese list, against #7,875 for "cela". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cedo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cedo" and "cela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cela vs cerda". 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 #64,688 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