capatazvscapitánTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,090
“capataz” frequency rank
#1,540
“capitán” frequency rank
30630
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capataz capitán
Definition Persona encargada de dirigir y vigilar a sus trabajadores, por recomendaciones del patrón. Persona que dirige una tropa militar

Where the eye mixes capataz and capitán

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. capataz and capitán follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
capataz
7 ch
capitán

Why the eye confuses capataz with capitán

A purely visual mix-up. capataz ([kapaˈt̪as]) and capitán ([kapiˈt̪ãn]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capataz is recorded at frequency rank #29,090, classified as anoun, pronounced [kapaˈt̪as]. capitán is at rank #1,540, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kapiˈt̪ãn].

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 30630, this pair ranks #211,057 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capataz vs capitán

Shared letters: acpt. Private to "capataz": z. Private to "capitán": iná.

"capataz" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "capitán" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capataz ← acpataz · caaptaz · capaatz · capatazz · capattaz · capatza · cappataz · captaaz

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capataz" and "capitán" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kapaˈt̪as] versus [kapiˈt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "capataz" or "capitán" show up more?
"capitán" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,540 in our Spanish list, against #29,090 for "capataz". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "capataz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capitán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #211,057 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capataz" and "capitán" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capataz vs captan". 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 #211,057 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