canjevscateWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,766
“canje” frequency rank
#38,559
“cate” frequency rank
63325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature canje cate
Definition Cambio, trueque o sustitución de persona o cosa, en condiciones previamente acordada Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura.

Where the eye mixes canje and cate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. canje runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against cate's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
canje
4 ch
cate

Why the eye confuses canje with cate

A purely visual mix-up. canje ([ˈkãŋxe]) and cate ([ˈkat̪e]) 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 63325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

canje is recorded at frequency rank #24,766, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkãŋxe]. cate is at rank #38,559, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪e].

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 63325, this pair ranks #49,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of canje vs cate

Shared letters: ace. Private to "canje": jn. Private to "cate": t.

"canje" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canje ← acnje · cajne · canej · canjje · cannje · ccanje · cnaje
  • cate ← acte · caet · catte · ccate · ctae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "canje" for "cate" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkãŋxe] versus [ˈkat̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "canje" or "cate"?
"canje" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,766 in our Spanish list, against #38,559 for "cate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "canje" and "cate" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "canje" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "canje" and "cate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cate vs catre". 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 #49,109 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