camavscataTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,134
“cama” frequency rank
#19,658
“cata” frequency rank
20792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cama cata
Definition Mueble que sirve para recostarse sobre él para dormir. Acción o efecto de catar.

Where the eye mixes cama and cata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cama and cata follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
cama
4 ch
cata

Look-alike desk: cama vs cata

A purely visual mix-up. cama ([ˈkama]) 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 a single letter - m in “cama” becomes t in “cata”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cama is recorded at frequency rank #1,134, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkama]. 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 20792, this pair ranks #257,762 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cama vs cata

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cama": m. Private to "cata": t.

"cama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • camaacma · caam · camma · ccama · cmaa
  • catacaat · catta · ccata · ctaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cama" for "cata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkama] versus [ˈkat̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cama" or "cata"?
"cama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,134 in our Spanish list, against #19,658 for "cata". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cama" 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 #257,762 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cama" 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 #257,762 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