cáncervscanesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,844
“cáncer” frequency rank
#42,315
“canes” frequency rank
44159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cáncer canes
Definition Enfermedad en la que las células de varios tejidos del cuerpo inician una proliferación descontrolada y con frecuencia veloz. Forma del plural de can.

Where the eye mixes cáncer and canes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cáncer runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against canes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cáncer
5 ch
canes

Look-alike desk: cáncer vs canes

A purely visual mix-up. cáncer ([ˈkãnseɾ]) and canes ([ˈkanes]) 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 44159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cáncer is recorded at frequency rank #1,844, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkãnseɾ]. canes is at rank #42,315, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkanes].

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 44159, this pair ranks #138,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cáncer vs canes

Shared letters: cen. Private to "cáncer": rá. Private to "canes": as.

"cáncer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "canes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canes ← acnes · caens · caness · ccanes · cnaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cáncer" and "canes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkãnseɾ] versus [ˈkanes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cáncer" vs "canes" - which ranks higher?
"cáncer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,844 in our Spanish list, against #42,315 for "canes". 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 "cáncer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "canes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cáncer" and "canes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canes vs cats". 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 #138,602 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