cagavscaraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: caga is a verb, cara is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caga” is a verb and “cara” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,674
“caga” frequency rank
#444
“cara” frequency rank
8118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caga cara
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cagar o de cagarse. En el hombre y algunos animales, parte frontal de la cabeza, donde se encuentran los ojos, nariz y boca.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
caga
4 ch
cara

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caga is [ˈkaɣ̞a] while cara is [ˈkaɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “caga” becomes r in “cara”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caga is recorded at frequency rank #7,674, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɣ̞a]. 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 8118, this pair ranks #305,947 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of caga vs cara

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caga": g. Private to "cara": r.

"caga" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cagaacga · caag · cagga · ccaga · cgaa
  • caraacra · caar · carra · ccara · craa

Frequency comparison

caga#7,674
cara#444

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caga" and "cara" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caga" is a verb and "cara" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caga" or "cara"?
"cara" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #444 in our Spanish list, against #7,674 for "caga". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering caga vs cara

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “caga”; for a noun, it's “cara”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “caga” 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