cansanvscarganWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,130
“cansan” frequency rank
#17,893
“cargan” frequency rank
45023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cansan cargan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cansar o de cansarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cargar.

Where the eye mixes cansan and cargan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cansan
6 ch
cargan

Why the eye confuses cansan with cargan

A purely visual mix-up. cansan ([ˈkãnsãn]) and cargan ([ˈkaɾɣ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cansan is recorded at frequency rank #27,130, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkãnsãn]. cargan is at rank #17,893, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɾɣ̞ãn].

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 45023, this pair ranks #133,799 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cansan vs cargan

Shared letters: acn. Private to "cansan": s. Private to "cargan": gr.

"cansan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "cargan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cansanacnsan · canasn · cannsan · cansann · cansna · canssan · casnan · ccansan
  • carganacrgan · cagran · caragn · cargann · carggan · cargna · carrgan · ccargan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cansan" for "cargan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkãnsãn] versus [ˈkaɾɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cansan" vs "cargan" - which ranks higher?
"cargan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,893 in our Spanish list, against #27,130 for "cansan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cansan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cargan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #133,799 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cansan" and "cargan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cansan vs cansino". 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 #133,799 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