coçarvscosaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,956
“coçar” frequency rank
#31,312
“cosa” frequency rank
55268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coçar cosa
Definition esfregar com as unhas, ou com outro objeto, qualquer parte do corpo onde se sente comichão coisa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coçar and cosa apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
coçar
4 ch
cosa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coçar is /ku.ˈsaɾ/ while cosa is /'kɔ.sa/. 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 55268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coçar is recorded at frequency rank #23,956, classified as averb, pronounced /ku.ˈsaɾ/. 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 55268, this pair ranks #10,701 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coçar vs cosa

Shared letters: aco. Private to "coçar": . Private to "cosa": s.

"coçar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cosa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cosaccosa · cossa · csoa · ocsa

Frequency comparison

coçar#23,956
cosa#31,312

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coçar" and "cosa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "coçar" is a verb and "cosa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "coçar" or "cosa"?
"coçar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,956 in our Portuguese list, against #31,312 for "cosa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coçar vs cosa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “coçar”; for a noun, it's “cosa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “coçar” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list