compravscoptaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,564
“compra” frequency rank
#45,269
“copta” frequency rank
46833
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compra copta
Definition ato ou efeito de comprar relacionado aos coptos

Where the eye mixes compra and copta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
compra
5 ch
copta

Visual trap between compra and copta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: compra is /ˈkõ.pɾɐ/ while copta is /ˈkɔp.tɐ/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compra is recorded at frequency rank #1,564, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkõ.pɾɐ/. 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 46833, this pair ranks #18,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of compra vs copta

Shared letters: acop. Private to "compra": mr. Private to "copta": t.

"compra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "copta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compraccompra · cmopra · commpra · compar · comppra · comrpa · copmra · ocmpra
  • coptaccopta · copat · coppta · coptta · cotpa · cpota · ocpta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "compra" for "copta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "compra" is a noun and "copta" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "compra" or "copta" show up more?
"compra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,564 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "compra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "copta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compra" and "copta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conca vs copta". 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 #18,472 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