cabevscineConfusable pair

Which to use

“cabe” and “cine” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,011
“cabe” frequency rank
#961
“cine” frequency rank
2972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabe cine
Definition Acción de atravesar la pierna en el camino de otro para hacerlo caer. Arte de hacer películas para su exposición en salas de espectáculo.

Where the eye mixes cabe and cine

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

4 ch
cabe
4 ch
cine

Look-alike desk: cabe vs cine

A purely visual mix-up. cabe ([ˈkaβ̞e]) and cine ([ˈsine]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabe is recorded at frequency rank #2,011, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞e]. cine is at rank #961, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsine].

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 2972, this pair ranks #319,283 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cabe vs cine

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cabe": ab. Private to "cine": in.

"cabe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabeacbe · cabbe · caeb · cbae · ccabe
  • cineccine · cinne · cnie · icne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cabe" and "cine" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaβ̞e] versus [ˈsine]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cabe" or "cine"?
"cine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #961 in our Spanish list, against #2,011 for "cabe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #319,283 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cabe" and "cine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabe 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 #319,283 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