Which to use
“cate” and “cauce” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- #15,038
- “cauce” frequency rank
- 53597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cate | cauce |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. | Lecho de los ríos y arroyos. |
Where the eye mixes cate and cauce
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cate runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cauce's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cate and cauce
A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and cauce ([ˈkawse]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53597, 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]. cauce is at rank #15,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkawse].
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 53597, this pair ranks #87,120 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cate vs cauce
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cate": t. Private to "cauce": u.
"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cauce" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cate" and "cauce" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cate" or "cauce"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cate" and "cauce" 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 "cauce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,120 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cate" and "cauce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cate 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 #87,120 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.