Which to use
“cata” and “cita” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,658
- “cata” frequency rank
- #1,470
- “cita” frequency rank
- 21128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cata | cita |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acción o efecto de catar. | Reunión de personas cuyo encuentro ha sido establecido anteriormente de común acuerdo. |
Where the eye mixes cata and cita
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cata with cita
A purely visual mix-up. cata ([ˈkat̪a]) and cita ([ˈsit̪a]) 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 a single letter - a in “cata” becomes i in “cita”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cata is recorded at frequency rank #19,658, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪a]. cita is at rank #1,470, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsit̪a].
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 21128, this pair ranks #256,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cata vs cita
Shared letters: act. Private to "cata": -. Private to "cita": i.
"cata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cita" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cata" for "cita" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cata" or "cita" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cata" and "cita" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cita" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cata" and "cita" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cata vs ceba". 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 #256,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.