Which to use
“cable” and “cale” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,034
- “cable” frequency rank
- #41,231
- “cale” frequency rank
- 44265
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cable | cale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cabo grueso, maroma. | Golpe suave con la mano. |
Where the eye mixes cable and cale
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cable runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against cale's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cable vs cale
A purely visual mix-up. cable ([ˈkaβ̞le]) and cale ([ˈkale]) 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 44265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cable is recorded at frequency rank #3,034, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞le]. cale is at rank #41,231, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkale].
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 44265, this pair ranks #138,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cable vs cale
Shared letters: acel. Private to "cable": b. Private to "cale": -.
"cable" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cable" for "cale" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cable" vs "cale" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cable" and "cale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cale vs catre". 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 #138,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.