cacovscaféWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#1,337
“café” frequency rank
47127
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco café
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. Semilla del fruto del cafeto, rica en el estimulante cafeína, que se emplea tostada y molida para preparar una bebida con estas propiedades que se consume en casi todo el mundo. Es el segundo producto en volumen en el comercio internacional, solo superado por el petróleo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caco and café apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
caco
4 ch
café

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. caco ([ˈkako]) and café ([kaˈfe]) 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 47127, 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]. café is at rank #1,337, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈfe].

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 47127, this pair ranks #121,774 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs café

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caco": o. Private to "café": .

"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "café" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao

Frequency comparison

caco#45,790
café#1,337

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caco" and "café" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkako] versus [kaˈfe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caco" or "café"?
"café" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,337 in our Spanish list, against #45,790 for "caco". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering caco vs café

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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