celavscerdaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cela is a noun, cerda is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#7,875
“cela” frequency rank
#47,775
“cerda” frequency rank
55650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cela cerda
Definition aposento de prisioneiros que é porca, suja

Where the eye mixes cela and cerda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cela
5 ch
cerda

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cela is /ˈsɛ.la/ while cerda is /ˈseɾ.dɐ/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cela is recorded at frequency rank #7,875, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛ.la/. cerda is at rank #47,775, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈseɾ.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 55650, this pair ranks #10,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cela vs cerda

Shared letters: ace. Private to "cela": l. Private to "cerda": dr.

"cela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cerda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • celaccela · ceal · cella · clea · ecla
  • cerdaccerda · cedra · cerad · cerdda · cerrda · creda · ecrda

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cela" and "cerda" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cela" is a noun and "cerda" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cela" or "cerda"?
"cela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,875 in our Portuguese list, against #47,775 for "cerda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "cela" and "cerda". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cerda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cela" and "cerda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerda vs Ceres". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list