cegovschegaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cego is a adjective, chega is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cego” is an adjective and “chega” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,606
“cego” frequency rank
#626
“chega” frequency rank
6232
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cego chega
Definition que não vê; desprovido de visão utilizado como expletivo, transmite a ideia de “até mesmo”

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cego and chega apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cego
5 ch
chega

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cego is /ˈsɛ.gu/ while chega is /ˈʃe.ɡɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cego is recorded at frequency rank #5,606, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɛ.gu/. chega is at rank #626, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈʃe.ɡɐ/.

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 6232, this pair ranks #68,231 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cego vs chega

Shared letters: ceg. Private to "cego": o. Private to "chega": ah.

"cego" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "chega" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cegoccego · ceggo · ceog · cgeo · ecgo
  • chegacchega · cehga · cheag · chegga · chgea · chhega · hcega

Frequency comparison

cego#5,606
chega#626

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cego" and "chega" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cego" is an adjective and "chega" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cego" or "chega"?
"chega" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #626 in our Portuguese list, against #5,606 for "cego". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cego vs chega

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cego”; for an adverb, it's “chega”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cego” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list