CafésvscatsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,661
“Cafés” frequency rank
#28,127
“cats” frequency rank
44788
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cafés cats
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Café 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs cat

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Cafés
4 ch
cats

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Cafés is [kaˈfeːs] while cats is [kæts]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44788, 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]. cats is at rank #28,127, tagged as averb, pronounced [kæts].

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 44788, this pair ranks #1,374,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Cafés vs cats

Shared letters: acs. Private to "Cafés": . Private to "cats": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • catscast · catss · catts · ccats · ctas

Frequency comparison

Cafés#16,661
cats#28,127

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Cafés" and "cats" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Cafés" is a noun and "cats" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Cafés" or "cats"?
"Cafés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,661 in our German list, against #28,127 for "cats". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Cafés vs cats

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 “cats”.
  • 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