Which to use
“cadena” and “caduca” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,539
- “cadena” frequency rank
- #34,921
- “caduca” frequency rank
- 36460
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cadena | caduca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Serie de objetos entrelazados uno después de otro, especialmente eslabones metálicos. | Epilepsia. |
Where the eye mixes cadena and caduca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cadena and caduca follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: cadena vs caduca
A purely visual mix-up. cadena ([kaˈð̞ena]) and caduca ([kaˈð̞uka]) 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 36460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cadena is recorded at frequency rank #1,539, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈð̞ena]. caduca is at rank #34,921, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈð̞uka].
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 36460, this pair ranks #180,491 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cadena vs caduca
Shared letters: acd. Private to "cadena": en. Private to "caduca": u.
"cadena" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "caduca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cadena" and "caduca" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cadena" or "caduca" show up more?
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 "cadena" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "caduca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #180,491 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cadena" and "caduca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caduca vs caduco". 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 #180,491 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.