cessarvscestaTell them apart

Quick tell: cessar is a verb, cesta is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cessar” is a verb and “cesta” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,729
“cessar” frequency rank
#9,017
“cesta” frequency rank
17746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cessar cesta
Definition interromper, não continuar objeto comumente feito de fibras ou vergas entrelaçadas, para o transporte e armazenamento de produtos como alimentos, roupas, etc

Where the eye mixes cessar and cesta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cessar
5 ch
cesta

Visual trap between cessar and cesta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cessar is /sɨ.ˈsaɾ/ while cesta is /ˈseʃ.tɐ/, /ˈses.tɐ/ (menos frequente). 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cessar is recorded at frequency rank #8,729, classified as averb, pronounced /sɨ.ˈsaɾ/. cesta is at rank #9,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈseʃ.tɐ/, /ˈses.tɐ/ (menos frequente).

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 17746, this pair ranks #53,425 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cessar vs cesta

Shared letters: aces. Private to "cessar": r. Private to "cesta": t.

"cessar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "cesta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cessarccessar · cesar · cesasr · cessarr · cessra · csesar · ecssar
  • cestaccesta · cesat · cessta · cestta · cetsa · cseta · ecsta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cessar" for "cesta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cessar" is a verb and "cesta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cessar" or "cesta"?
"cessar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,729 in our Portuguese list, against #9,017 for "cesta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cessar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cesta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,425 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cessar" and "cesta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerda vs cesta". 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 #53,425 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