caobavscapaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,450
“caoba” frequency rank
#3,617
“capa” frequency rank
40067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caoba capa
Definition (género Swietenia) Árbol de la familia Meliaceae, natural de América, de hasta 20 metros de altura, tronco corpulento y recto del que brotan a cierta altura un gran número de ramas, hojas compuestas, flores pequeñas y blancas, y fruto capsular. Su madera es muy estimada. Prenda de ropa, larga y sin mangas que se ciñe a los hombros o al cuello.

Where the eye mixes caoba and capa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
caoba
4 ch
capa

Look-alike desk: caoba vs capa

A purely visual mix-up. caoba ([kaˈoβ̞a]) and capa ([ˈkapa]) 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 40067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caoba is recorded at frequency rank #36,450, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈoβ̞a]. capa is at rank #3,617, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkapa].

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 40067, this pair ranks #161,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caoba vs capa

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caoba": bo. Private to "capa": p.

"caoba" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "capa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caobaacoba · caboa · caoab · caobba · caova · ccaoba · coaba
  • capaacpa · caap · cappa · ccapa · cpaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caoba" and "capa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈoβ̞a] versus [ˈkapa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caoba" or "capa"?
"capa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,617 in our Spanish list, against #36,450 for "caoba". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "caoba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #161,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caoba" and "capa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caoba 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 #161,093 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