Which to use
“cast” is a verb and “cause” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,686
- “cast” frequency rank
- #441
- “cause” frequency rank
- 2127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cast | cause |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move, or be moved, away. | The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result. |
Where the eye mixes cast and cause
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cast is /kɑːst/ while cause is /kɔːz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cast is recorded at frequency rank #1,686, classified as averb, pronounced /kɑːst/. cause is at rank #441, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɔːz/.
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 2127, this pair ranks #525,798 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cast vs cause
Shared letters: acs. Private to "cast": t. Private to "cause": eu.
"cast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV