cacovscaducoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: caco is a noun, caduco is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caco” is a noun and “caduco” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#47,617
“caduco” frequency rank
93407
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco caduco
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. Decrépito, muy anciano.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caco and caduco apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
caco
6 ch
caduco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caco is [ˈkako] while caduco is [kaˈð̞uko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caco is recorded at frequency rank #45,790, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkako]. caduco is at rank #47,617, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kaˈð̞uko].

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 93407, this pair ranks #1,159 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs caduco

Shared letters: aco. Private to "caco": -. Private to "caduco": du.

"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "caduco" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao
  • caducoacduco · cadcuo · cadduco · caducco · caduoc · caudco · ccaduco · cdauco

Frequency comparison

caco#45,790
caduco#47,617

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caco" and "caduco" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caco" is a noun and "caduco" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caco" or "caduco"?
"caco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,790 in our Spanish list, against #47,617 for "caduco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caco vs caduco

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “caco”; for an adjective, it's “caduco”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “caco” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list