Which to use
“pata” and “pola” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,417
- “pata” frequency rank
- #42,156
- “pola” frequency rank
- 57573
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pata | pola |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | a fêmea do pato | estaca |
Where the eye mixes pata and pola
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pata and pola follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between pata and pola
A purely visual mix-up. pata (/ˈpa.tɐ/) and pola (/'pɔ.la/ para o ramo da àrvore) 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 57573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pata is recorded at frequency rank #15,417, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpa.tɐ/. pola is at rank #42,156, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'pɔ.la/ para o ramo da àrvore.
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 57573, this pair ranks #9,259 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pata vs pola
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pata": t. Private to "pola": lo.
"pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "pola" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pata" and "pola" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pata" vs "pola" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pata" and "pola" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,259 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pata" and "pola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pola vs Poland". 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 #9,259 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.