cadenavscajetaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,539
“cadena” frequency rank
#47,620
“cajeta” frequency rank
49159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cadena cajeta
Definition Serie de objetos entrelazados uno después de otro, especialmente eslabones metálicos. Dulce preparado a base de leche evaporada, tradicionalmente de cabra, caramelizada con azúcar.

Where the eye mixes cadena and cajeta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cadena and cajeta follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
cadena
6 ch
cajeta

Look-alike desk: cadena vs cajeta

A purely visual mix-up. cadena ([kaˈð̞ena]) and cajeta ([kaˈxet̪a]) 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 49159, 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]. cajeta is at rank #47,620, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈxet̪a].

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 49159, this pair ranks #110,400 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cadena vs cajeta

Shared letters: ace. Private to "cadena": dn. Private to "cajeta": jt.

"cadena" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cajeta" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cadenaacdena · caddena · cadean · cadenna · cadnea · caedna · ccadena · cdaena
  • cajetaacjeta · caejta · cajeat · cajetta · cajjeta · cajtea · ccajeta · cjaeta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cadena" and "cajeta" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈð̞ena] versus [kaˈxet̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cadena" or "cajeta"?
"cadena" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,539 in our Spanish list, against #47,620 for "cajeta". 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 "cadena" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cajeta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,400 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cadena" and "cajeta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cajeta vs Caquetá". 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 #110,400 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