Which to use
“cared” is a verb and “cates” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,942
- “cared” frequency rank
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- 54065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cared | cates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of care | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. |
Letter map: cared vs cates
Shared letters muted; letters that set cared and cates apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. cared and cates follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Role in the sentence - cared and cates
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cared is averb and catesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cared is recorded at frequency rank #5,942, classified as averb, pronounced /kɛɹd/. cates is at rank #48,123, tagged as anoun.
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 54065, this pair ranks #143,996 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cared vs cates
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cared": dr. Private to "cates": st.
"cared" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cared" and "cates" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "cared" or "cates" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "cared" and "cates". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,996 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cared" and "cates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #143,996 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.