Which to use
“cate” and “cats” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- #47,632
- “cats” frequency rank
- 86191
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cate | cats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. | Forma del plural de cat. |
Where the eye mixes cate and cats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cate (CVCV) and cats (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: cate vs cats
A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and cats (/kæts/) 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 - e in “cate” becomes s in “cats”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cate is recorded at frequency rank #38,559, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪e]. cats is at rank #47,632, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kæts/.
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 86191, this pair ranks #5,489 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cate vs cats
Shared letters: act. Private to "cate": e. Private to "cats": s.
"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cate" and "cats" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cate" or "cats"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cate" and "cats" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,489 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cate" and "cats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "catre vs cats". 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 #5,489 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.