caívscomWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: caí is a verb, com is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caí” is a verb and “com” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,538
“caí” frequency rank
#4,982
“com” frequency rank
16520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caí com
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de caer o de caerse. Como.

Where the eye mixes caí and com

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
caí
3 ch
com

Visual trap between caí and com

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caí is [kaˈi] while com is [ˈkom]. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caí is recorded at frequency rank #11,538, classified as averb, pronounced [kaˈi]. com is at rank #4,982, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈkom].

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 16520, this pair ranks #275,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of caí vs com

Shared letters: c. Private to "caí": . Private to "com": mo.

"caí" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "com" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caí" for "com" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caí" is a verb and "com" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caí" or "com" show up more?
"com" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,982 in our Spanish list, against #11,538 for "caí". 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 "caí" and "com" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caí" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "com" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #275,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caí" and "com" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caí vs cuc". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #275,823 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