cabenvscausenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,778
“caben” frequency rank
#36,971
“causen” frequency rank
51749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caben causen
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 presente de subjuntivo de causar.

Where the eye mixes caben and causen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. caben runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against causen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
caben
6 ch
causen

Look-alike desk: caben vs causen

A purely visual mix-up. caben ([ˈkaβ̞ẽn]) and causen ([ˈkawsẽn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51749, 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]. causen is at rank #36,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkawsẽn].

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 51749, this pair ranks #96,261 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caben vs causen

Shared letters: acen. Private to "caben": b. Private to "causen": su.

"caben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "causen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caben ← acben · cabben · cabenn · cabne · caebn · caven · cbaen · ccaben
  • causen ← acusen · casuen · caucen · cauesn · causenn · causne · caussen · ccausen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caben" and "causen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaβ̞ẽn] versus [ˈkawsẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "caben" vs "causen" - which ranks higher?
"caben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,778 in our Spanish list, against #36,971 for "causen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "caben" and "causen" 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 "causen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,261 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caben" and "causen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calmen vs causen". 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 #96,261 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