Which to use
“laço” and “lata” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,518
- “laço” frequency rank
- #6,442
- “lata” frequency rank
- 15960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laço | lata |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nó que se desata facilmente | folha de ferro laminada e estanhada |
Where the eye mixes laço and lata
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. laço and lata follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses laço with lata
A purely visual mix-up. laço (/ˈla.su/) and lata (/ˈla.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laço is recorded at frequency rank #9,518, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.su/. lata is at rank #6,442, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.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 15960, this pair ranks #55,737 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laço vs lata
Shared letters: al. Private to "laço": oç. Private to "lata": t.
"laço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lata ← laat · latta · llata · ltaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laço" and "lata" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "laço" vs "lata" - 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 "laço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,737 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laço" and "lata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laço vs loch". 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 #55,737 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.