CafésvscapsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,661
“Cafés” frequency rank
#24,665
“caps” frequency rank
41326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cafés caps
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Café 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs cap

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Cafés
4 ch
caps

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Cafés is anoun and capsaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Cafés is recorded at frequency rank #16,661, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈfeːs]. caps is at rank #24,665, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 41326, this pair ranks #1,482,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Cafés vs caps

Shared letters: acs. Private to "Cafés": . Private to "caps": p.

"Cafés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "caps" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capsacps · capps · capss · casp · ccaps · cpas

Frequency comparison

Cafés#16,661
caps#24,665

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Cafés" and "caps" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Cafés" is a noun and "caps" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Cafés" or "caps"?
"Cafés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,661 in our German list, against #24,665 for "caps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Cafés vs caps

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list