Which to use
“cab” and “cade” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,464
- “cab” frequency rank
- #45,173
- “cade” frequency rank
- 78637
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cab | cade |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Carruaje ligero de dos o cuatro caballos, con una capota plegable que se recogía a modo de fuelle detrás del asiento trasero. | (Phytotoma rara) Ave de la familia Phytotomidae. Mide 19 cm. De plumaje en distintos tonos de pardo con secciones negruzcas, frente y corona pardo rojizas, pico corto y grueso de color negro e iris rojos, con dimorfismo sexual. Se alimenta de plantas y de brotes tiernos de árboles. Ave solitaria, que en algunas épocas del año forma pequeñas bandadas. Frecuenta campos, huertos y jardines. |
Where the eye mixes cab and cade
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cab runs 3 letters (CVC) against cade's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cab with cade
A purely visual mix-up. cab ([ˈkaβ̞]) and cade ([ˈkað̞e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cab is recorded at frequency rank #33,464, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞]. cade is at rank #45,173, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkað̞e].
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 78637, this pair ranks #14,190 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cab vs cade
Shared letters: ac. Private to "cab": b. Private to "cade": de.
"cab" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cade ← acde · cadde · caed · ccade · cdae
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cab" for "cade" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cab" vs "cade" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,190 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cab" and "cade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cade vs catre". 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 #14,190 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.