Which to use
“capes” is a noun and “Coates” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,860
- “capes” frequency rank
- #24,411
- “Coates” frequency rank
- 53271
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | capes | Coates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cape | A surname. |
Where the eye mixes capes and Coates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. capes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Coates's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: capes vs Coates
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capes is /keɪps/ while Coates is /kəʊts/. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
capes is recorded at frequency rank #28,860, classified as anoun, pronounced /keɪps/. Coates is at rank #24,411, tagged as aname, pronounced /kəʊts/.
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 53271, this pair ranks #150,333 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of capes vs Coates
Shared letters: aces. Private to "capes": p. Private to "Coates": ot.
"capes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Coates" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "capes" for "Coates" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "capes" or "Coates" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "capes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Coates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,333 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "capes" and "Coates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capes 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 #150,333 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.