ceovscháConfusable pair

Which to use

“ceo” and “chá” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,861
“ceo” frequency rank
#2,711
“chá” frequency rank
11572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ceo chá
Definition nevoeiro; neblina planta da família das Teáceas, originária do Extremo Oriente, cultivada por causa de suas folhas que contêm um alcalóide, a teína (cafeína do chá)

Where the eye mixes ceo and chá

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ceo
3 ch
chá

Look-alike desk: ceo vs chá

A purely visual mix-up. ceo (/coː/) and chá (/ˈʃa/) 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 11572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ceo is recorded at frequency rank #8,861, classified as anoun, pronounced /coː/. chá is at rank #2,711, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃa/.

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 11572, this pair ranks #61,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ceo vs chá

Shared letters: c. Private to "ceo": eo. Private to "chá": .

"ceo" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "chá" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ceo" and "chá" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/coː/ versus /ˈʃa/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ceo" vs "chá" - which ranks higher?
"chá" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,711 in our Portuguese list, against #8,861 for "ceo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ceo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chá" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ceo" and "chá" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceo vs ciao". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #61,235 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