Which to use
“carte” and “cates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,487
- “carte” frequency rank
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- 71610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | carte | cates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bill of fare; a menu. | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. |
Letter map: carte vs cates
Shared letters muted; letters that set carte and cates apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. carte (CVCCV) and cates (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Spelling & dictionary notes on carte vs cates
carte and cates are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
carte is recorded at frequency rank #23,487, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɑː(ɹ)t/. 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 71610, this pair ranks #46,059 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of carte vs cates
Shared letters: acet. Private to "carte": r. Private to "cates": s.
"carte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "carte" for "cates" ever safe?
Frequency check: "carte" vs "cates" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "carte" and "cates". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "carte" 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 #46,059 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "carte" 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 #46,059 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.