poça vs poxa, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#29,093
“poça” frequency rank: #20,097
“poxa” frequency rank: 49190
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	poça	poxa
Definition	cavidade pouco profunda onde se acumula água	indica surpresa, admiração, irritação

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poça and poxa apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

poça

4 ch

poxa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: poça is anoun and poxaanintj. On the page they differ by a single letter - ç in “poça” becomes x in “poxa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poça is recorded at frequency rank #29,093, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.sɐ/. poxa is at rank #20,097, tagged as anintj.

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 49190, this pair ranks #15,873 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of poça vs poxa

Shared letters: aop. Private to "poça": ç. Private to "poxa": x.

"poça" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "poxa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

poxa ← opxa · poax · poxxa · ppoxa · pxoa

Frequency comparison

poça#29,093

poxa#20,097

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "poça" and "poxa" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "poça" or "poxa"?

"poxa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,097 in our Portuguese list, against #29,093 for "poça". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering poça vs poxa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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