Which to use
“cares” is a verb and “cates” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,606
- “cares” frequency rank
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- 51729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cares | cates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of care | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. |
Letter map: cares vs cates
Shared letters muted; letters that set cares and cates apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. cares and cates follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Grammar separator: cares vs cates
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cares is averb and catesanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - r in “cares” becomes t in “cates”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cares is recorded at frequency rank #3,606, classified as averb, pronounced /kɛɹz/. 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 51729, this pair ranks #163,028 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cares vs cates
Shared letters: aces. Private to "cares": r. Private to "cates": t.
"cares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cares" and "cates" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cares" vs "cates" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cares" and "cates".
- Full dictionary entry for "cares" 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 #163,028 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cares" 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 #163,028 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.