Which to use
“cables” and “causes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,646
- “cables” frequency rank
- #2,333
- “causes” frequency rank
- 10979
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cables | causes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cable | plural of cause |
Where the eye mixes cables and causes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cables with causes
A purely visual mix-up. cables (/ˈkeɪ.bəlz/) and causes (/ˈkɔːzɪz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cables is recorded at frequency rank #8,646, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkeɪ.bəlz/. causes is at rank #2,333, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔːzɪz/.
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 10979, this pair ranks #489,508 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cables vs causes
Shared letters: aces. Private to "cables": bl. Private to "causes": u.
"cables" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "causes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cables" and "causes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cables" or "causes"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cables" and "causes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cables" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "causes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #489,508 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cables" and "causes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cables vs cates". 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 #489,508 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.