caigavscargoTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#6,039
“caiga” frequency rank
#603
“cargo” frequency rank
6642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caiga cargo
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de caer o de caerse. Puesto de responsabilidad en un sistema organizativo.

Where the eye mixes caiga and cargo

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

5 ch
caiga
5 ch
cargo

Why the eye confuses caiga with cargo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caiga is [ˈkajɣ̞a] while cargo is [ˈkaɾɣ̞o]. 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 6642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caiga is recorded at frequency rank #6,039, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkajɣ̞a]. cargo is at rank #603, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾɣ̞o].

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 6642, this pair ranks #310,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of caiga vs cargo

Shared letters: acg. Private to "caiga": i. Private to "cargo": or.

"caiga" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "cargo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caigaaciga · cagia · caiag · caigga · ccaiga · ciaga
  • cargoacrgo · cagro · carggo · carog · carrgo · ccargo · crago

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caiga" and "cargo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caiga" is a verb and "cargo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caiga" or "cargo"?
"cargo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #603 in our Spanish list, against #6,039 for "caiga". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "caiga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cargo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caiga" and "cargo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caiga vs Chita". 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 #310,195 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