cafésvscareWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,534
“cafés” frequency rank
#18,475
“care” frequency rank
31009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cafés care
Definition Forma del plural de café. (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.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cafés and care apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cafés
4 ch
care

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cafés ([kaˈfes]) and care ([ˈkaɾe]) 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 31009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cafés is recorded at frequency rank #12,534, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈfes]. care is at rank #18,475, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾe].

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 31009, this pair ranks #209,252 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cafés vs care

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cafés": fsé. Private to "care": er.

"cafés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "care" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carecarre · ccare

Frequency comparison

cafés#12,534
care#18,475

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cafés" and "care" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈfes] versus [ˈkaɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cafés" or "care"?
"cafés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,534 in our Spanish list, against #18,475 for "care". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cafés vs care

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cafés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list