captavscavaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#20,299
“capta” frequency rank
#19,946
“cava” frequency rank
40245
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capta cava
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de captar. Cueva.

Where the eye mixes capta and cava

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

5 ch
capta
4 ch
cava

Look-alike desk: capta vs cava

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capta is [ˈkapt̪a] while cava is [ˈkaβ̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capta is recorded at frequency rank #20,299, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkapt̪a]. cava is at rank #19,946, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞a].

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 40245, this pair ranks #160,137 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capta vs cava

Shared letters: ac. Private to "capta": pt. Private to "cava": v.

"capta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cava" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • captaacpta · capat · cappta · captta · catpa · ccapta · cpata
  • cavaacva · caav · cavva · ccava · cvaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capta" and "cava" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capta" is a verb and "cava" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "capta" or "cava" show up more?
"cava" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,946 in our Spanish list, against #20,299 for "capta". 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 "capta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cava" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,137 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capta" and "cava" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cava 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 #160,137 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