sacana vs sacola, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sacana” is an adjective and “sacola” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,173
“sacana” frequency rank: #12,977
“sacola” frequency rank: 46150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sacana	sacola
Definition	diz-se daquele que comete atos reprováveis	saco de dois alforjes ou fundos que frades mendicantes usam para recolher as dádivas e que ainda hoje usam os pedintes para levar as esmolas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sacana and sacola apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

sacana

6 ch

sacola

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sacana is /sɐ.ˈkɐ.nɐ/ while sacola is /sɐ.ˈkɔ.lɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sacana is recorded at frequency rank #33,173, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɐ.ˈkɐ.nɐ/. sacola is at rank #12,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɐ.ˈkɔ.lɐ/.

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 46150, this pair ranks #19,193 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sacana vs sacola

Shared letters: acs. Private to "sacana": n. Private to "sacola": lo.

"sacana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "sacola" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

sacana ← ascana · saacna · sacaan · sacanna · saccana · sacnaa · scaana · ssacana
sacola ← ascola · saccola · sacloa · sacoal · sacolla · saocla · scaola · ssacola

Frequency comparison

sacana#33,173

sacola#12,977

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sacana" and "sacola" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "sacana" or "sacola"?

"sacola" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,977 in our Portuguese list, against #33,173 for "sacana". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sacana vs sacola

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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