caganvscagoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,857
“cagan” frequency rank
#7,109
“cago” frequency rank
20966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cagan cago
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cagar o de cagarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de cagar o de cagarse.

Where the eye mixes cagan and cago

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cagan
4 ch
cago

Why the eye confuses cagan with cago

A purely visual mix-up. cagan ([ˈkaɣ̞ãn]) and cago ([ˈkaɣ̞o]) 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 20966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cagan is recorded at frequency rank #13,857, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɣ̞ãn]. cago is at rank #7,109, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɣ̞o].

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 20966, this pair ranks #256,984 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cagan vs cago

Shared letters: acg. Private to "cagan": n. Private to "cago": o.

"cagan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caganacgan · caagn · cagann · caggan · cagna · ccagan · cgaan
  • cagoacgo · caggo · caog · ccago · cgao

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cagan" and "cago" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaɣ̞ãn] versus [ˈkaɣ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cagan" vs "cago" - which ranks higher?
"cago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,109 in our Spanish list, against #13,857 for "cagan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cagan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,984 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cagan" and "cago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cagaba vs cagan". 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 #256,984 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