Which to use
“catar” is a verb and “catre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,482
- “catar” frequency rank
- #49,500
- “catre” frequency rank
- 82982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | catar | catre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Probar algo con el sentido del gusto, especialmente los alimentos. | Cama plegable con armazón de tijera. |
Where the eye mixes catar and catre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. catar (CVCVC) and catre (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between catar and catre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: catar is [kaˈt̪aɾ] while catre is [ˈkat̪ɾe]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
catar is recorded at frequency rank #33,482, classified as averb, pronounced [kaˈt̪aɾ]. catre is at rank #49,500, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪ɾe].
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 82982, this pair ranks #8,630 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of catar vs catre
Shared letters: acrt. Private to "catar": -. Private to "catre": e.
"catar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "catre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "catar" for "catre" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "catar" or "catre" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "catar" and "catre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "catar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "catre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,630 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "catar" and "catre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cart 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 #8,630 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.