Which to use
“coma” and “costa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,925
- “coma” frequency rank
- #885
- “costa” frequency rank
- 6810
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coma | costa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estado patológico de inconsciência em que, até onde se sabe, o organismo mantém pouco mais do que as funções respiratória e circulatória: | interface entre o mar e a terra |
Where the eye mixes coma and costa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coma and costa
A purely visual mix-up. coma (/ˈko.mɐ/) and costa (/ˈkɔʃ.tɐ/) 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 6810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coma is recorded at frequency rank #5,925, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈko.mɐ/. costa is at rank #885, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔʃ.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 6810, this pair ranks #67,517 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coma vs costa
Shared letters: aco. Private to "coma": m. Private to "costa": st.
"coma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "costa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coma" for "costa" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coma" vs "costa" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "costa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,517 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coma" and "costa" 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 #67,517 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.