CafésvscarsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Cafés” and “cars” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,661
“Cafés” frequency rank
#19,176
“cars” frequency rank
35837
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cafés cars
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Café Plural des Substantivs car

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Cafés
4 ch
cars

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Cafés ([kaˈfeːs]) and cars ([kɑː(ɹ)z]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35837, 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]. cars is at rank #19,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɑː(ɹ)z].

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 35837, this pair ranks #1,630,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Cafés vs cars

Shared letters: acs. Private to "Cafés": . Private to "cars": r.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carsacrs · carrs · carss · casr · ccars · cras

Frequency comparison

Cafés#16,661
cars#19,176

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Cafés" and "cars" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈfeːs] versus [kɑː(ɹ)z]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Cafés" or "cars"?
"Cafés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,661 in our German list, against #19,176 for "cars". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Cafés vs cars

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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