cagovscioTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,109
“cago” frequency rank
#41,792
“cio” frequency rank
48901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cago cio
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de cagar o de cagarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ciar.

Where the eye mixes cago and cio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cago
3 ch
cio

Look-alike desk: cago vs cio

A purely visual mix-up. cago ([ˈkaɣ̞o]) and cio ([ˈsjo]) 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 48901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cago is recorded at frequency rank #7,109, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɣ̞o]. cio is at rank #41,792, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsjo].

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 48901, this pair ranks #111,891 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cago vs cio

Shared letters: co. Private to "cago": ag. Private to "cio": i.

"cago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cio" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cagoacgo · caggo · caog · ccago · cgao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cago" for "cio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaɣ̞o] versus [ˈsjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cago" or "cio" show up more?
"cago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,109 in our Spanish list, against #41,792 for "cio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "cago" and "cio" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,891 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cago" and "cio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cio vs cuc". 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 #111,891 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