canesvscanseWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,315
“canes” frequency rank
#27,131
“canse” frequency rank
69446
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature canes canse
Definition Forma del plural de can. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de cansar o de cansarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set canes and canse apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
canes
5 ch
canse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: canes is [ˈkanes] while canse is [ˈkãnse]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (es ↔ se) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

canes is recorded at frequency rank #42,315, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkanes]. canse is at rank #27,131, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkãnse].

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 69446, this pair ranks #31,955 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of canes vs canse

Shared letters: acens. Private to "canes": -. Private to "canse": -.

"canes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "canse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canesacnes · caens · caness · ccanes · cnaes
  • canseacnse · cance · cansse · casne · ccanse · cnase

Frequency comparison

canes#42,315
canse#27,131

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "canes" and "canse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "canes" is a noun and "canse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "canes" or "canse"?
"canse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,131 in our Spanish list, against #42,315 for "canes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering canes vs canse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “canes”; for a verb, it's “canse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “canes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list