salavssecaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#636
“sala” frequency rank
#2,805
“seca” frequency rank
3441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sala seca
Definition compartimento principal de uma casa período sem chuva

Where the eye mixes sala and seca

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sala
4 ch
seca

Why the eye confuses sala with seca

A purely visual mix-up. sala (/"sa.l@/) and seca (/ˈsɛ.kɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sala is recorded at frequency rank #636, classified as anoun, pronounced /"sa.l@/. seca is at rank #2,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛ.kɐ/.

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 3441, this pair ranks #71,713 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sala vs seca

Shared letters: as. Private to "sala": l. Private to "seca": ce.

"sala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "seca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • salaasla · saal · salla · slaa · ssala
  • secaesca · scea · seac · secca · sseca

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sala" for "seca" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/"sa.l@/ versus /ˈsɛ.kɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sala" vs "seca" - which ranks higher?
"sala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #636 in our Portuguese list, against #2,805 for "seca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sala" and "seca" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,713 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sala" and "seca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seca vs senda". 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 #71,713 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