Which to use
“cara” and “cardo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #444
- “cara” frequency rank
- #42,867
- “cardo” frequency rank
- 43311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cara | cardo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En el hombre y algunos animales, parte frontal de la cabeza, donde se encuentran los ojos, nariz y boca. | Nombre común dado a múltiples especies de plantas en las familias de las asteráceas, las apiáceas y las dipsacáceas, caracterizadas por un tallo herbáceo vertical de gran porte, tachonado de espinas, e inflorescencias terminales en forma de densos capítulos. Muchas especies son comestibles. |
Where the eye mixes cara and cardo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cara runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cardo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cara vs cardo
A purely visual mix-up. cara ([ˈkaɾa]) and cardo ([ˈkaɾð̞o]) 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 43311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cara is recorded at frequency rank #444, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾa]. cardo is at rank #42,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾð̞o].
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 43311, this pair ranks #143,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cara vs cardo
Shared letters: acr. Private to "cara": -. Private to "cardo": do.
"cara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cardo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cara" for "cardo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cara" vs "cardo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cardo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cara" and "cardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cardo vs Charo". 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 #143,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.