Coca vs. Cocoa – How to Use Each Correctly
What’s the Difference Between Coca and Cocoa?
Contents
Coca and cocoa sound the same, with the exception of the last vowel sound. Coca’s last vowel sound is a schwa whereas cocoa’s last vowel sound is a long o sound.
Coca is the name of a plant. This plant is notable because it is the shrub from which people can derive cocaine, which is an illegal drug.
- The government made it illegal to grow coca plants in an effort to control the production of cocaine.
Cocoa is a noun that refers to the beans or powder from the cacao plant. This tree is notable because it produces the main ingredient in chocolate.
- Many people enjoy drinking hot milk with cocoa powder, also known as hot chocolate or hot cocoa, in the winter.
Although these words sound similar, and both are related to a plant, these plants are two different species and should not be confused.
Using Coca in a Sentence
When to use coca: Coca is a type of the shrub native to South America. Its leaves contain the a psychoactive substance which people use to make the illegal drug cocaine. This word most often appears in news stories about the drug trade. However, the word might also appear in historical texts about native Americans in South America, who used the plant as a stimulant, similar to coffee. In fact, the word itself came from the native language of the Incas.
For example,
- Police arrested workers on a farm growing coca shrubs.
- Coca plants look similar to blackthorn bushes.
Probably the most famous use of coca is in the brand name of Coca Cola, a soda company. The company used coca leaves to flavor its soda and provide a stimulant until the early 1900’s.
Using Cocoa in a Sentence
When to use cocoa: Cocoa is also a plant, but can refer to the tree itself, the bean from the tree, or the powder from the bean. It can even mean a hot drink with either milk or water mixed with this powder. Cocoa is important because it is the main ingredient needed for chocolate.
For example,
- Cocoa actually tastes quite bitter until you add sugar to it.
- Cocoa plants are native to Central and South America.
Because cocoa sounds like coco, people often misspell it as such.
Remembering Coca vs. Cocoa
The best way to remember the difference between coca and cocoa is to think of the products associated with each.
Coca is a plant which people mainly use for cocaine. Because these two words share the same first four letters, you can use this as a mnemonic device.
Likewise, cocoa is a plant which people mainly use for chocolate. The first three vowels in chocolate are o, o, and a, just like in cocoa.
Outside Examples
- In Peru, where a four-year cocoa rally through 2015 encouraged former coca farmers to quit growing the raw material to make cocaine, concern is growing that weak returns will encourage a return to illegal alternatives, said Eduardo Montauban, general manager of Peru’s coffee chamber. –Denver Post
- My two traveling companions and I paid a total $40 per night for a suite of two bedrooms and a sitting room, filled with antiques, and also had the use of a shared kitchen, which came in handy when we needed to make coca tea to fight altitude sickness. –OC Register
- The balls are made by pureeing rich health foods such as nut butter, coconut oil, dried fruit and health supplements in a food processor, and then rolling large spoonfuls of the mixture in toppings such as unsweetened cocoa powder or chia seeds. –New York Post
- An entrepreneur from Ivory Coast is hoping to score an international fashion hit by recycling the cloth sacks that the country uses to ship cocoa beans around the world. –New York Daily News
Quiz: Coca vs. Cocoa
- While ____________________ is legal, ______________ is illegal.
- ____________ Cola was once made with actual leaves from the _____________ plant.
- Native people in South America used to chew on __________ leaves.
- ______________ comes from a type of bean.
See answers below.
Article Summary
Should I use coca or cocoa? Both words refer to a type of plant and have similar spelling. However, the two plants are very different since one of them is used to make an illegal drug and the other to make a delicious treat. Therefore it is important to know which one is which.
- Coca is a shrub that people use to produce cocaine.
- Cocoa is a tree that people use to produce chocolate.
Be careful not to mix up these two plants! You definitely don’t want to tell anyone you are growing coca, although growing cocoa would be perfectly innocent.
Answers
- cocoa, coca
- Coca, coca
- coca
- Cocoa