cafvscoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“caf” and “co” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,896
“caf” frequency rank
#617
“co” frequency rank
32513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caf co
Definition A café. Clipping of company.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caf and co apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
caf
2 ch
co

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. caf (/kæf/) and co (/kəʊ/) 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 32513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caf is recorded at frequency rank #31,896, classified as anoun, pronounced /kæf/. co is at rank #617, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəʊ/.

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 32513, this pair ranks #337,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caf vs co

Shared letters: c. Private to "caf": af. Private to "co": o.

"caf" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "co" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

caf#31,896
co#617

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caf" and "co" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kæf/ versus /kəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caf" or "co"?
"co" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #617 in our English list, against #31,896 for "caf". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering caf vs co

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 “caf” 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