cabalvscataWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cabal is a adjective, cata is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cabal” is an adjective and “cata” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,594
“cabal” frequency rank
#19,658
“cata” frequency rank
42252
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabal cata
Definition Ajustado a peso o medida. Acción o efecto de catar.

Where the eye mixes cabal and cata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cabal
4 ch
cata

Visual trap between cabal and cata

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cabal is [kaˈβ̞al] while cata is [ˈkat̪a]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabal is recorded at frequency rank #22,594, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaˈβ̞al]. cata is at rank #19,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪a].

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 42252, this pair ranks #149,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cabal vs cata

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cabal": bl. Private to "cata": t.

"cabal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabalacbal · caabl · caball · cabbal · cabla · caval · cbaal · ccabal
  • catacaat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cabal" and "cata" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cabal" is an adjective and "cata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cabal" vs "cata" - which ranks higher?
"cata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,658 in our Spanish list, against #22,594 for "cabal". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "cabal" and "cata" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cabal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #149,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cabal" and "cata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabal vs ceba". 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 #149,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list