caguesvscariesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,437
“cagues” frequency rank
#30,799
“caries” frequency rank
74236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cagues caries
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de cagar o de cagarse. Destrucción progresiva del diente por la acción de bacterias presentes en la placa dental.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cagues and caries apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
cagues
6 ch
caries

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cagues is [ˈkaɣ̞es] while caries is [ˈkaɾjes]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cagues is recorded at frequency rank #43,437, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɣ̞es]. caries is at rank #30,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾjes].

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 74236, this pair ranks #21,683 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cagues vs caries

Shared letters: aces. Private to "cagues": gu. Private to "caries": ir.

"cagues" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "caries" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caguesacgues · cageus · caggues · caguess · caguse · cauges · ccagues · cgaues
  • cariesacries · caires · careis · cariess · carise · carries · ccaries · craies

Frequency comparison

cagues#43,437
caries#30,799

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cagues" and "caries" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cagues" is a verb and "caries" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cagues" or "caries"?
"caries" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,799 in our Spanish list, against #43,437 for "cagues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cagues vs caries

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “cagues”; for a noun, it's “caries”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cagues” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list