CartagovscartílagoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Cartago is a name, cartílago is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Cartago” is a name and “cartílago” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,944
“Cartago” frequency rank
#35,931
“cartílago” frequency rank
55875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cartago cartílago
Definition Ciudad de la Antigüedad situada en el norte de África, en donde hoy está Túnez, que dominó el Mediterráneo. Tejido conjuntivo resistente y elástico, formado por células en una matriz de colágeno, que sirve de sostén flexible para numerosas estructuras como los epífisis de los huesos, laringe, orejas, nariz, etc.

Where the eye mixes Cartago and cartílago

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Cartago runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against cartílago's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Cartago
9 ch
cartílago

Look-alike desk: Cartago vs cartílago

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Cartago is [kaɾˈt̪aɣ̞o] while cartílago is [kaɾˈt̪ilaɣ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Cartago is recorded at frequency rank #19,944, classified as aname, pronounced [kaɾˈt̪aɣ̞o]. cartílago is at rank #35,931, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaɾˈt̪ilaɣ̞o].

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 55875, this pair ranks #76,960 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Cartago vs cartílago

Shared letters: acgort. Private to "Cartago": -. Private to "cartílago": lí.

"Cartago" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cartílago" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Cartago ← acrtago · caratgo · carrtago · cartaggo · cartaog · cartgao · carttago · catrago

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Cartago" and "cartílago" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Cartago" is a name and "cartílago" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Cartago" or "cartílago"?
"Cartago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,944 in our Spanish list, against #35,931 for "cartílago". 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 "Cartago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cartílago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,960 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Cartago" and "cartílago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cartago vs cartero". 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 #76,960 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