cismavscoisaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,106
“cisma” frequency rank
#105
“coisa” frequency rank
32211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cisma coisa
Definition ato de cismar, de cogitar qualquer objeto inanimado; em sentido filosófico, coisa é tudo aquilo subsistente por si mesmo; a filosofia kantiana afirma ser uma coisa aquilo que existe independentemente do espírito; no sentido usual, como para o Direito, coisa é tudo aquilo que, percebido pelos sentidos, pode apresentar utilidade para o homem, caso em que se chama bem material

Where the eye mixes cisma and coisa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cisma (CVCCV) and coisa (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
cisma
5 ch
coisa

Why the eye confuses cisma with coisa

A purely visual mix-up. cisma (/ˈsiʒ.mɐ/) and coisa ([ˈkojzɐ]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cisma is recorded at frequency rank #32,106, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsiʒ.mɐ/. coisa is at rank #105, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkojzɐ].

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 32211, this pair ranks #35,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cisma vs coisa

Shared letters: acis. Private to "cisma": m. Private to "coisa": o.

"cisma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "coisa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cisma ← ccisma · cimsa · cisam · cismma · cissma · csima · icsma
  • coisa ← ccoisa · ciosa · coias · coissa · cosia · ocisa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cisma" and "coisa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsiʒ.mɐ/ versus [ˈkojzɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cisma" vs "coisa" - which ranks higher?
"coisa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #105 in our Portuguese list, against #32,106 for "cisma". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cisma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coisa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cisma" and "coisa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caspa vs cisma". 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 #35,663 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