CapevscasesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,663
“Cape” frequency rank
#28,585
“cases” frequency rank
45248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cape cases
Definition leichter Umhang ohne Ärmel, oftmals nicht länger als bis zur Taille Plural des Substantivs case

Where the eye mixes Cape and cases

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Cape
5 ch
cases

Visual trap between Cape and cases

A purely visual mix-up. Cape ([kɛɪ̯p]) and cases ([ˈkeɪsɪz]) 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 45248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Cape is recorded at frequency rank #16,663, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɛɪ̯p]. cases is at rank #28,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkeɪsɪz].

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 45248, this pair ranks #1,359,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Cape vs cases

Shared letters: ace. Private to "Cape": p. Private to "cases": s.

"Cape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cases" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Capeacpe · caep · cappe · ccape · cpae
  • casesacses · caess · casess · casses · ccases · csaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Cape" for "cases" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kɛɪ̯p] versus [ˈkeɪsɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Cape" or "cases" show up more?
"Cape" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,663 in our German list, against #28,585 for "cases". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Cape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,359,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Cape" and "cases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calls vs cases". 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 #1,359,528 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list