carguerovscarteroWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#47,627
“carguero” frequency rank
#27,137
“cartero” frequency rank
74764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carguero cartero
Definition Embarcación dedicada al transporte de bienes o mercancías en general. El que reparte por las casas las cartas del correo.

Where the eye mixes carguero and cartero

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. carguero runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against cartero's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
carguero
7 ch
cartero

Why the eye confuses carguero with cartero

A purely visual mix-up. carguero ([kaɾˈɣ̞eɾo]) and cartero ([kaɾˈt̪eɾo]) 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 74764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carguero is recorded at frequency rank #47,627, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaɾˈɣ̞eɾo]. cartero is at rank #27,137, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaɾˈt̪eɾo].

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 74764, this pair ranks #20,730 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of carguero vs cartero

Shared letters: aceor. Private to "carguero": gu. Private to "cartero": t.

"carguero" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "cartero" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carguero ← acrguero · cagruero · cargeuro · cargguero · cargueor · carguerro · cargureo · carrguero
  • cartero ← acrtero · caretro · carrtero · carteor · carterro · cartreo · carttero · catrero

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "carguero" and "cartero" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaɾˈɣ̞eɾo] versus [kaɾˈt̪eɾo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "carguero" or "cartero" show up more?
"cartero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,137 in our Spanish list, against #47,627 for "carguero". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "carguero" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cartero" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,730 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "carguero" and "cartero" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carguen vs carguero". 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 #20,730 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