coisavscoptaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: coisa is a noun, copta is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“coisa” is a noun and “copta” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#105
“coisa” frequency rank
#45,269
“copta” frequency rank
45374
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coisa copta
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 relacionado aos coptos

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
coisa
5 ch
copta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coisa is [ˈkojzɐ] while copta is /ˈkɔp.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45374, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coisa is recorded at frequency rank #105, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkojzɐ]. copta is at rank #45,269, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɔp.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 45374, this pair ranks #20,028 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coisa vs copta

Shared letters: aco. Private to "coisa": is. Private to "copta": pt.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coisaccoisa · ciosa · coias · coissa · cosia · ocisa
  • coptaccopta · copat · coppta · coptta · cotpa · cpota · ocpta

Frequency comparison

coisa#105
copta#45,269

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coisa" and "copta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "coisa" is a noun and "copta" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "coisa" or "copta"?
"coisa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #105 in our Portuguese list, against #45,269 for "copta". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering coisa vs copta

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “coisa”; for an adjective, it's “copta”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “coisa” 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