Which to use
“cárcel” and “care” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,503
- “cárcel” frequency rank
- #18,475
- “care” frequency rank
- 19978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cárcel | care |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Establecimiento destinado al alojamiento de los penados a privación de libertad | (Phytotoma rara) Ave de la familia Phytotomidae. Mide 19 cm. De plumaje en distintos tonos de pardo con secciones negruzcas, frente y corona pardo rojizas, pico corto y grueso de color negro e iris rojos, con dimorfismo sexual. Se alimenta de plantas y de brotes tiernos de árboles. Ave solitaria, que en algunas épocas del año forma pequeñas bandadas. Frecuenta campos, huertos y jardines. |
Where the eye mixes cárcel and care
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cárcel vs care
A purely visual mix-up. cárcel ([ˈkaɾsel]) and care ([ˈkaɾe]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cárcel is recorded at frequency rank #1,503, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾsel]. care is at rank #18,475, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɾe].
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 19978, this pair ranks #261,333 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cárcel vs care
Shared letters: cer. Private to "cárcel": lá. Private to "care": a.
"cárcel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "care" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- care ← carre · ccare
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cárcel" and "care" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cárcel" or "care"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cárcel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "care" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #261,333 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cárcel" and "care" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "care vs catre". 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 #261,333 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.