cafeteravscarteraTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,589
“cafetera” frequency rank
#5,077
“cartera” frequency rank
26666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cafetera cartera
Definition Utensilio usado para hacer o servir café. Puede ser de fuego directo o eléctrico. Bolsa de cuero o telas en que se guardan las cartas y papeles doblados para traerlos en la faltriquera.

Where the eye mixes cafetera and cartera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
cafetera
7 ch
cartera

Visual trap between cafetera and cartera

A purely visual mix-up. cafetera ([kafeˈt̪eɾa]) and cartera ([kaɾˈt̪eɾa]) 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 26666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cafetera is recorded at frequency rank #21,589, classified as anoun, pronounced [kafeˈt̪eɾa]. cartera is at rank #5,077, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaɾˈt̪eɾa].

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 26666, this pair ranks #230,546 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cafetera vs cartera

Shared letters: acert. Private to "cafetera": f. Private to "cartera": -.

"cafetera" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "cartera" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cafeteraacfetera · caeftera · cafeetra · cafetear · cafeterra · cafetrea · cafettera · caffetera
  • carteraacrtera · caretra · carrtera · cartear · carterra · cartrea · carttera · catrera

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cafetera" and "cartera" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kafeˈt̪eɾa] versus [kaɾˈt̪eɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cafetera" or "cartera"?
"cartera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,077 in our Spanish list, against #21,589 for "cafetera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cafetera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cartera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #230,546 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cafetera" and "cartera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cafetera vs catéter". 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 #230,546 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