cajasvscataTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,677
“cajas” frequency rank
#19,658
“cata” frequency rank
23335
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cajas cata
Definition Forma del plural de caja. Acción o efecto de catar.

Where the eye mixes cajas and cata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cajas runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against cata's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
cajas
4 ch
cata

Look-alike desk: cajas vs cata

A purely visual mix-up. cajas ([ˈkaxas]) and cata ([ˈkat̪a]) 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 23335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cajas is recorded at frequency rank #3,677, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaxas]. cata is at rank #19,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪a].

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 23335, this pair ranks #246,261 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cajas vs cata

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cajas": js. Private to "cata": t.

"cajas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cajas ← acjas · caajs · cajass · cajjas · cajsa · ccajas · cjaas
  • cata ← caat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cajas" for "cata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaxas] versus [ˈkat̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cajas" vs "cata" - which ranks higher?
"cajas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,677 in our Spanish list, against #19,658 for "cata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cajas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #246,261 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cajas" and "cata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cata vs ceba". 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 #246,261 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