cadenavscavernaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,539
“cadena” frequency rank
#19,947
“caverna” frequency rank
21486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cadena caverna
Definition Serie de objetos entrelazados uno después de otro, especialmente eslabones metálicos. Cavidad de cierta profundidad que se encuentra entre las rocas o bajo tierra.

Where the eye mixes cadena and caverna

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cadena
7 ch
caverna

Visual trap between cadena and caverna

A purely visual mix-up. cadena ([kaˈð̞ena]) and caverna ([kaˈβ̞eɾna]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21486, 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]. caverna is at rank #19,947, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈβ̞eɾna].

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 21486, this pair ranks #254,728 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cadena vs caverna

Shared letters: acen. Private to "cadena": d. Private to "caverna": rv.

"cadena" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "caverna" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cadenaacdena · caddena · cadean · cadenna · cadnea · caedna · ccadena · cdaena
  • cavernaacverna · caberna · caevrna · cavenra · caveran · cavernna · caverrna · cavrena

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cadena" for "caverna" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈð̞ena] versus [kaˈβ̞eɾna]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cadena" or "caverna"?
"cadena" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,539 in our Spanish list, against #19,947 for "caverna". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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 "caverna" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,728 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cadena" and "caverna" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cañería vs caverna". 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 #254,728 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