Which to use
“caben” is a verb and “café” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,778
- “caben” frequency rank
- #1,337
- “café” frequency rank
- 16115
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caben | café |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de caber. | Semilla del fruto del cafeto, rica en el estimulante cafeína, que se emplea tostada y molida para preparar una bebida con estas propiedades que se consume en casi todo el mundo. Es el segundo producto en volumen en el comercio internacional, solo superado por el petróleo. |
Where the eye mixes caben and café
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between caben and café
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caben is [ˈkaβ̞ẽn] while café is [kaˈfe]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caben is recorded at frequency rank #14,778, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞ẽn]. café is at rank #1,337, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈfe].
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 16115, this pair ranks #277,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of caben vs café
Shared letters: ac. Private to "caben": ben. Private to "café": fé.
"caben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "café" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- caben ← acben · cabben · cabenn · cabne · caebn · caven · cbaen · ccaben
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caben" and "café" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caben" or "café" show up more?
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 "caben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "café" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caben" and "café" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caben vs calmen". 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 #277,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.