cacovscaigoTell them apart

Quick tell: caco is a noun, caigo is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#14,089
“caigo” frequency rank
59879
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco caigo
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de caer o de caerse.

Where the eye mixes caco and caigo

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

4 ch
caco
5 ch
caigo

Visual trap between caco and caigo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caco is [ˈkako] while caigo is [ˈkajɣ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59879, 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]. caigo is at rank #14,089, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkajɣ̞o].

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 59879, this pair ranks #60,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs caigo

Shared letters: aco. Private to "caco": -. Private to "caigo": gi.

"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "caigo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao
  • caigoacigo · cagio · caiggo · caiog · ccaigo · ciago

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caco" and "caigo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caco" is a noun and "caigo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caco" or "caigo"?
"caigo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,089 in our Spanish list, against #45,790 for "caco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "caco" and "caigo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caigo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caco" and "caigo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caco vs cuc". 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 #60,991 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