Which to use
“cade” is a noun and “cede” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,173
- “cade” frequency rank
- #16,526
- “cede” frequency rank
- 61699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cade | cede |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (Phytotoma rara) Ave de la familia Phytotomidae. Mide 19 cm. De plumaje en distintos tonos de pardo con secciones negruzcas, frente y corona pardo rojizas, pico corto y grueso de color negro e iris rojos, con dimorfismo sexual. Se alimenta de plantas y de brotes tiernos de árboles. Ave solitaria, que en algunas épocas del año forma pequeñas bandadas. Frecuenta campos, huertos y jardines. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ceder. |
Where the eye mixes cade and cede
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cade vs cede
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cade is [ˈkað̞e] while cede is [ˈseð̞e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “cade” becomes e in “cede”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cade is recorded at frequency rank #45,173, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkað̞e]. cede is at rank #16,526, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈseð̞e].
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 61699, this pair ranks #54,532 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cade vs cede
Shared letters: cde. Private to "cade": a. Private to "cede": -.
"cade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cede" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cade" and "cede" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cade" or "cede" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cede" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,532 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cade" and "cede" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cade 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 #54,532 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.