kara vs kari, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#15,604
“kara” frequency rank: #47,968
“kari” frequency rank: 63572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	kara	kari
Definition	querido, amado	caril

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

kara

4 ch

kari

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kara is /ˈka.ɾa/, /ˈkɑ.rɑ/ while kari is /ˈkarɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “kara” becomes i in “kari”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kara is recorded at frequency rank #15,604, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈka.ɾa/, /ˈkɑ.rɑ/. kari is at rank #47,968, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkarɪ/.

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 63572, this pair ranks #6,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kara vs kari

Shared letters: akr. Private to "kara": -. Private to "kari": i.

"kara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kari" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

kara ← akra · kaar · karra · kkara · kraa
kari ← akri · kair · karri · kkari · krai

Frequency comparison

kara#15,604

kari#47,968

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kara" and "kari" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kara" is an adjective and "kari" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "kara" or "kari"?

"kara" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,604 in our Portuguese list, against #47,968 for "kari". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kara vs kari

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “kara”; for a noun, it's “kari”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kara” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable