covscosaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: co is a pronoun, cosa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“co” is a pronoun and “cosa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,005
“co” frequency rank
#31,312
“cosa” frequency rank
33317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature co cosa
Definition que coisa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set co and cosa apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
co
4 ch
cosa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: co is apronoun and cosaanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “co” sits inside “cosa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

co is recorded at frequency rank #2,005, classified as apron. cosa is at rank #31,312, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'kɔ.sa/.

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 33317, this pair ranks #34,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of co vs cosa

Shared letters: co. Private to "co": -. Private to "cosa": as.

"co" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "cosa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cosaccosa · cossa · csoa · ocsa

Frequency comparison

co#2,005
cosa#31,312

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "co" and "cosa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "co" is a pronoun and "cosa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "co" or "cosa"?
"co" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,005 in our Portuguese list, against #31,312 for "cosa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering co vs cosa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “co”; for a noun, it's “cosa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “co” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list