cabervscaesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,126
“caber” frequency rank
#12,986
“caes” frequency rank
40112
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caber caes
Definition Poder estar o ser contenido dentro de algo. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de caer o de caerse.

Where the eye mixes caber and caes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
caber
4 ch
caes

Look-alike desk: caber vs caes

A purely visual mix-up. caber ([kaˈβ̞eɾ]) and caes ([ˈkaes]) 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 40112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caber is recorded at frequency rank #27,126, classified as averb, pronounced [kaˈβ̞eɾ]. caes is at rank #12,986, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaes].

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 40112, this pair ranks #160,846 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caber vs caes

Shared letters: ace. Private to "caber": br. Private to "caes": s.

"caber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "caes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caberacber · cabber · caberr · cabre · caebr · caver · cbaer · ccaber
  • caesaces · caess · ccaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caber" and "caes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈβ̞eɾ] versus [ˈkaes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caber" or "caes" show up more?
"caes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,986 in our Spanish list, against #27,126 for "caber". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,846 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caber" and "caes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caber vs camel". 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 #160,846 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