Which to use
“pata” is a noun and “puta” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,417
- “pata” frequency rank
- #1,506
- “puta” frequency rank
- 16923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pata | puta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | a fêmea do pato | belo, ótimo |
Where the eye mixes pata and puta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pata with puta
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pata is /ˈpa.tɐ/ while puta is /ˈpu.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “pata” becomes u in “puta”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16923, 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/. puta is at rank #1,506, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpu.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 16923, this pair ranks #54,477 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pata vs puta
Shared letters: apt. Private to "pata": -. Private to "puta": u.
"pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "puta" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pata" for "puta" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pata" or "puta" show up more?
What to do next
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 "puta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,477 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pata" and "puta" 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 #54,477 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.