castasvscatarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: castas is a adjective, catar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“castas” is an adjective and “catar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,066
“castas” frequency rank
#33,482
“catar” frequency rank
50548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature castas catar
Definition Forma del femenino plural de casto. Probar algo con el sentido del gusto, especialmente los alimentos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set castas and catar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
castas
5 ch
catar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: castas is [ˈkast̪as] while catar is [kaˈt̪aɾ]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

castas is recorded at frequency rank #17,066, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkast̪as]. catar is at rank #33,482, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaˈt̪aɾ].

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 50548, this pair ranks #102,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of castas vs catar

Shared letters: act. Private to "castas": s. Private to "catar": r.

"castas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "catar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • castasacstas · casats · casstas · castass · castsa · casttas · catsas · ccastas
  • cataractar · caatr · catarr · cattar · ccatar · ctaar

Frequency comparison

castas#17,066
catar#33,482

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "castas" and "catar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "castas" is an adjective and "catar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "castas" or "catar"?
"castas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,066 in our Spanish list, against #33,482 for "catar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering castas vs catar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “castas”; for a verb, it's “catar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “castas” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list