Which to use
“cesta” and “costa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,017
- “cesta” frequency rank
- #885
- “costa” frequency rank
- 9902
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cesta | costa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | objeto comumente feito de fibras ou vergas entrelaçadas, para o transporte e armazenamento de produtos como alimentos, roupas, etc | interface entre o mar e a terra |
Where the eye mixes cesta and costa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cesta vs costa
A purely visual mix-up. cesta (/ˈseʃ.tɐ/, /ˈses.tɐ/ (menos frequente)) and costa (/ˈkɔʃ.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “cesta” becomes o in “costa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cesta is recorded at frequency rank #9,017, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈseʃ.tɐ/, /ˈses.tɐ/ (menos frequente). costa is at rank #885, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔʃ.tɐ/.
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 9902, this pair ranks #63,374 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cesta vs costa
Shared letters: acst. Private to "cesta": e. Private to "costa": o.
"cesta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "costa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cesta" for "costa" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cesta" or "costa" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cesta" and "costa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cesta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "costa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,374 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cesta" and "costa" 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 #63,374 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.