Which to use
“cafés” and “claves” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,534
- “cafés” frequency rank
- #5,474
- “claves” frequency rank
- 18008
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cafés | claves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de café. | Forma del plural de clave. |
Where the eye mixes cafés and claves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cafés with claves
A purely visual mix-up. cafés ([kaˈfes]) and claves ([ˈklaβ̞es]) 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 18008, 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]. claves is at rank #5,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞es].
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 18008, this pair ranks #269,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cafés vs claves
Shared letters: acs. Private to "cafés": fé. Private to "claves": elv.
"cafés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "claves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- claves ← calves · cclaves · clabes · claevs · clavess · clavse · clavves · cllaves
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cafés" and "claves" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cafés" or "claves"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cafés" and "claves" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cafés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "claves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cafés" and "claves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cafés vs cats". 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 #269,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.