oba vs ota, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“oba” is a num and “ota” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,674
“oba” frequency rank: #31,082
“ota” frequency rank: 51756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	oba	ota
Definition	ambos, um e outro, uma e outra	expressa regozijo pela dor ou sofrimento alheio

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oba and ota apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

oba

3 ch

ota

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oba is /ˈʔɔba/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while ota is /ˈo.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “oba” becomes t in “ota”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oba is recorded at frequency rank #20,674, classified as anum, pronounced /ˈʔɔba/ ouvir^(fonte ?). ota is at rank #31,082, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈo.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 51756, this pair ranks #13,341 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of oba vs ota

Shared letters: ao. Private to "oba": b. Private to "ota": t.

"oba" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ota" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

oba#20,674

ota#31,082

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oba" and "ota" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oba" is a num and "ota" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "oba" or "ota"?

"oba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,674 in our Portuguese list, against #31,082 for "ota". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oba vs ota

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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