resistavsrespostaConfusable pair

Quick tell: resista is a verb, resposta is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“resista” is a verb and “resposta” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,254
“resista” frequency rank
#762
“resposta” frequency rank
28016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature resista resposta
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do presente do conjuntivo/subjuntivo do verbo resistir enunciado que se faz como réplica a uma pergunta

Where the eye mixes resista and resposta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. resista runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against resposta's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
resista
8 ch
resposta

Why the eye confuses resista with resposta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: resista is /χe.ˈzis.tɐ/ while resposta is /Rɨʃ.ˈpoʃ.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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

resista is recorded at frequency rank #27,254, classified as averb, pronounced /χe.ˈzis.tɐ/. resposta is at rank #762, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨʃ.ˈpoʃ.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 28016, this pair ranks #40,861 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of resista vs resposta

Shared letters: aerst. Private to "resista": i. Private to "resposta": op.

"resista" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "resposta" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • resista ← ersista · reissta · resisat · resissta · resistta · resitsa · ressista · ressita
  • resposta ← ersposta · repsosta · resopsta · resposat · respossta · respostta · respotsa · respposta

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "resista" and "resposta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "resista" is a verb and "resposta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "resista" or "resposta"?
"resposta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #762 in our Portuguese list, against #27,254 for "resista". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "resista" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "resposta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,861 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "resista" and "resposta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "resista vs revistar". 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 #40,861 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