cafésvscatsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,534
“cafés” frequency rank
#47,632
“cats” frequency rank
60166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cafés cats
Definition Forma del plural de café. Forma del plural de cat.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cafés and cats apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cafés
4 ch
cats

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cafés ([kaˈfes]) and cats (/kæts/) 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 60166, 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]. cats is at rank #47,632, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kæts/.

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 60166, this pair ranks #59,910 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cafés vs cats

Shared letters: acs. Private to "cafés": . Private to "cats": t.

"cafés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • catsacts · catss · catts · ccats · ctas

Frequency comparison

cafés#12,534
cats#47,632

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cafés" and "cats" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈfes] versus /kæts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cafés" or "cats"?
"cafés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,534 in our Spanish list, against #47,632 for "cats". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cafés vs cats

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