obra vs ota, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#702
“obra” frequency rank: #31,082
“ota” frequency rank: 31784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	obra	ota
Definition	resultado de uma ação ou de um trabalho	expressa regozijo pela dor ou sofrimento alheio

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

obra

3 ch

ota

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obra is /ˈɔ.bɾɐ/ while ota is /ˈo.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 intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obra is recorded at frequency rank #702, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔ.bɾɐ/. 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 31784, this pair ranks #36,199 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obra vs ota

Shared letters: ao. Private to "obra": br. Private to "ota": t.

"obra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ota" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

obra ← obar · obbra · obrra · orba

Frequency comparison

obra#702

ota#31,082

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"obra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #702 in our Portuguese list, against #31,082 for "ota". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering obra vs ota

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “obra”; for an intj, it's “ota”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “obra” entry
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