castvscisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cast is a verb, cis is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cast” is a verb and “cis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,686
“cast” frequency rank
#13,115
“cis” frequency rank
14801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cast cis
Definition To move, or be moved, away. Having two mutations on two genes on the same chromosome of a homologous pair.

Where the eye mixes cast and cis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cast
3 ch
cis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cast is /kɑːst/ while cis is /sɪs/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14801, 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/. cis is at rank #13,115, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sɪs/.

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 14801, this pair ranks #467,866 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cast vs cis

Shared letters: cs. Private to "cast": at. Private to "cis": i.

"cast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "cis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • castacst · casst · castt · ccast · csat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cast" and "cis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cast" is a verb and "cis" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cast" or "cis"?
"cast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,686 in our English list, against #13,115 for "cis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list