caldovscausoWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#10,991
“caldo” frequency rank
#31,256
“causo” frequency rank
42247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caldo causo
Definition Se llama así al líquido en que ha sido cocinada una vianda. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de causar.

Where the eye mixes caldo and causo

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

5 ch
caldo
5 ch
causo

Look-alike desk: caldo vs causo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caldo is [ˈkal̪d̪o] while causo is [ˈkawso]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caldo is recorded at frequency rank #10,991, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkal̪d̪o]. causo is at rank #31,256, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkawso].

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 42247, this pair ranks #149,297 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caldo vs causo

Shared letters: aco. Private to "caldo": dl. Private to "causo": su.

"caldo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "causo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caldoacldo · cadlo · calddo · calldo · calod · ccaldo · clado
  • causocasuo · cauos · causso · ccauso · cuaso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caldo" for "causo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caldo" is a noun and "causo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caldo" or "causo" show up more?
"caldo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,991 in our Spanish list, against #31,256 for "causo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caldo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "causo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #149,297 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caldo" and "causo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causo vs curo". 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 #149,297 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