cajasvscayosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,677
“cajas” frequency rank
#42,871
“cayos” frequency rank
46548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cajas cayos
Definition Forma del plural de caja. Forma del plural de cayo.

Where the eye mixes cajas and cayos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cajas (CVCVC) and cayos (CVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
cajas
5 ch
cayos

Look-alike desk: cajas vs cayos

A purely visual mix-up. cajas ([ˈkaxas]) and cayos ([ˈkaʝos]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46548, 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]. cayos is at rank #42,871, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaʝos].

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 46548, this pair ranks #125,103 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cajas vs cayos

Shared letters: acs. Private to "cajas": j. Private to "cayos": oy.

"cajas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cayos" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cajas ← acjas · caajs · cajass · cajjas · cajsa · ccajas · cjaas
  • cayos ← acyos · caoys · cayoss · cayso · cayyos · ccayos · cyaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cajas" and "cayos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaxas] versus [ˈkaʝos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cajas" or "cayos" show up more?
"cajas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,677 in our Spanish list, against #42,871 for "cayos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cajas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cayos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #125,103 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cajas" and "cayos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cayos vs chamos". 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 #125,103 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