cabellovsCapellaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cabello is a noun, Capella is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cabello” is a noun and “Capella” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,440
“cabello” frequency rank
#42,318
“Capella” frequency rank
44758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabello Capella
Definition Cada uno de los pelos que crecen en la cabeza. Estrella doble de la constelación del Auriga. Tiene unas cuatro veces la masa del Sol.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cabello and Capella apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cabello
7 ch
Capella

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cabello is [kaˈβ̞eʝo] while Capella is [kaˈpeʝa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabello is recorded at frequency rank #2,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈβ̞eʝo]. Capella is at rank #42,318, tagged as aname, pronounced [kaˈpeʝa].

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 44758, this pair ranks #135,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cabello vs Capella

Shared letters: acel. Private to "cabello": bo. Private to "Capella": p.

"cabello" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Capella" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabelloacbello · cabbello · cabelo · cabelol · cablelo · caebllo · cavello · cbaello
  • Capellaacpella · caeplla · capela · capelal · caplela · cappella · ccapella · cpaella

Frequency comparison

cabello#2,440
Capella#42,318

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cabello" and "Capella" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cabello" is a noun and "Capella" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cabello" or "Capella"?
"cabello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,440 in our Spanish list, against #42,318 for "Capella". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cabello vs Capella

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cabello”; for a name, it's “Capella”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cabello” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list