patavsprataTell them apart

Which to use

“pata” and “prata” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,417
“pata” frequency rank
#3,036
“prata” frequency rank
18453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pata prata
Definition a fêmea do pato elemento químico de símbolo Ag, possui o número atômico 47 e massa atômica relativa 107,868 u; é um metal de transição, branco metálico, obtido associado em sulfetos, como o de cobre e chumbo em minerais como a argenita; o nitrato de prata é largamente empregado na fotografia, em eletrodeposição química e em pilhas e baterias; o metal é empregado na fabricação de joias, utensílios domésticos e moedas

Where the eye mixes pata and prata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pata
5 ch
prata

Why the eye confuses pata with prata

A purely visual mix-up. pata (/ˈpa.tɐ/) and prata (/ˈpɾa.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18453, 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/. prata is at rank #3,036, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾa.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 18453, this pair ranks #52,529 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pata vs prata

Shared letters: apt. Private to "pata": -. Private to "prata": r.

"pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "prata" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pataapta · paat · patta · ppata · ptaa
  • prataparta · pprata · praat · pratta · prrata · prtaa · rpata

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pata" and "prata" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpa.tɐ/ versus /ˈpɾa.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pata" or "prata"?
"prata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,036 in our Portuguese list, against #15,417 for "pata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,529 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pata" and "prata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs pata". 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 #52,529 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list