cvscaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: c is a character, ca is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“c” is a character and “ca” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#324
“c” frequency rank
#4,399
“ca” frequency rank
4723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature c ca
Definition Tercera letra del abecedario español y segunda consonante. Su nombre es ce. Denota incredulidad o negación.

Where the eye mixes c and ca

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

1 ch
c
2 ch
ca

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: c is [ˈse] while ca is [ˈka]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “c” sits inside “ca”, and the parts of speech differ too (character vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

c is recorded at frequency rank #324, classified as acharacter, pronounced [ˈse]. ca is at rank #4,399, tagged as anintj, pronounced [ˈka].

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 4723, this pair ranks #315,403 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of c vs ca

Shared letters: c. Private to "c": -. Private to "ca": a.

"c" · 1 letters · shape C  ·  "ca" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "c" and "ca" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "c" is a character and "ca" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "c" or "ca"?
"c" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #324 in our Spanish list, against #4,399 for "ca". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list