calidadesvscavidadesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,127
“calidades” frequency rank
#29,969
“cavidades” frequency rank
57096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calidades cavidades
Definition Forma del plural de calidad. Forma del plural de cavidad.

Where the eye mixes calidades and cavidades

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. calidades and cavidades follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
calidades
9 ch
cavidades

Why the eye confuses calidades with cavidades

A purely visual mix-up. calidades ([kaliˈð̞að̞es]) and cavidades ([kaβ̞iˈð̞að̞es]) 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 a single letter - l in “calidades” becomes v in “cavidades”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calidades is recorded at frequency rank #27,127, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaliˈð̞að̞es]. cavidades is at rank #29,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaβ̞iˈð̞að̞es].

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 57096, this pair ranks #71,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calidades vs cavidades

Shared letters: acdeis. Private to "calidades": l. Private to "cavidades": v.

"calidades" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "cavidades" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calidades ← aclidades · caildades · caldiades · caliaddes · calidaddes · calidadess · calidadse · calidaeds
  • cavidades ← acvidades · cabidades · caivdades · cavdiades · caviaddes · cavidaddes · cavidadess · cavidadse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calidades" and "cavidades" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaliˈð̞að̞es] versus [kaβ̞iˈð̞að̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "calidades" vs "cavidades" - which ranks higher?
"calidades" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,127 in our Spanish list, against #29,969 for "cavidades". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "calidades" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cavidades" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calidades" and "cavidades" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calamidades vs calidades". 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 #71,857 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