Which to use
“caben” and “caían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,778
- “caben” frequency rank
- #22,295
- “caían” frequency rank
- 37073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caben | caían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de caber. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de caer o de caerse. |
Where the eye mixes caben and caían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caben (CVCVC) and caían (CVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between caben and caían
A purely visual mix-up. caben ([ˈkaβ̞ẽn]) and caían ([kaˈiãn]) 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 37073, 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]. caían is at rank #22,295, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaˈiãn].
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 37073, this pair ranks #177,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caben vs caían
Shared letters: acn. Private to "caben": be. Private to "caían": í.
"caben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "caían" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- caben ← acben · cabben · cabenn · cabne · caebn · caven · cbaen · ccaben
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caben" and "caían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caben" or "caían" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "caben" and "caían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "caían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caben" and "caían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caían vs coin". 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 #177,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.