Which to use
“café” and “cara” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,337
- “café” frequency rank
- #444
- “cara” frequency rank
- 1781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | café | cara |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Semilla del fruto del cafeto, rica en el estimulante cafeína, que se emplea tostada y molida para preparar una bebida con estas propiedades que se consume en casi todo el mundo. Es el segundo producto en volumen en el comercio internacional, solo superado por el petróleo. | En el hombre y algunos animales, parte frontal de la cabeza, donde se encuentran los ojos, nariz y boca. |
Where the eye mixes café and cara
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. café and cara follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: café vs cara
A purely visual mix-up. café ([kaˈfe]) and cara ([ˈkaɾa]) 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 1781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
café is recorded at frequency rank #1,337, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈfe]. cara is at rank #444, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾa].
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 1781, this pair ranks #321,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of café vs cara
Shared letters: ac. Private to "café": fé. Private to "cara": r.
"café" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cara ← acra · caar · carra · ccara · craa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "café" for "cara" ever safe?
Frequency check: "café" vs "cara" - which ranks higher?
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 "café" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "café" and "cara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "café 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 #321,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.