cacovscapaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#3,617
“capa” frequency rank
49407
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco capa
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. Prenda de ropa, larga y sin mangas que se ciñe a los hombros o al cuello.

Where the eye mixes caco and capa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
caco
4 ch
capa

Why the eye confuses caco with capa

A purely visual mix-up. caco ([ˈkako]) and capa ([ˈkapa]) 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 49407, 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]. capa is at rank #3,617, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkapa].

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 49407, this pair ranks #109,041 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs capa

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caco": o. Private to "capa": p.

"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "capa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao
  • capaacpa · caap · cappa · ccapa · cpaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caco" for "capa" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkako] versus [ˈkapa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "caco" vs "capa" - which ranks higher?
"capa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,617 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #109,041 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caco" and "capa" 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 #109,041 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