coisavscomaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#105
“coisa” frequency rank
#5,925
“coma” frequency rank
6030
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coisa coma
Definition 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 estado patológico de inconsciência em que, até onde se sabe, o organismo mantém pouco mais do que as funções respiratória e circulatória:

Where the eye mixes coisa and coma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
coisa
4 ch
coma

Look-alike desk: coisa vs coma

A purely visual mix-up. coisa ([ˈkojzɐ]) and coma (/ˈko.mɐ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coisa is recorded at frequency rank #105, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkojzɐ]. coma is at rank #5,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈko.mɐ/.

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 6030, this pair ranks #68,496 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coisa vs coma

Shared letters: aco. Private to "coisa": is. Private to "coma": m.

"coisa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "coma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coisaccoisa · ciosa · coias · coissa · cosia · ocisa
  • comaccoma · cmoa · coam · comma · ocma

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coisa" and "coma" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkojzɐ] versus /ˈko.mɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coisa" or "coma"?
"coisa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #105 in our Portuguese list, against #5,925 for "coma". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coisa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,496 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coisa" and "coma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coma vs conca". 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 #68,496 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