Which to use
“cate” is a noun and “cauto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- #44,034
- “cauto” frequency rank
- 82593
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cate | cauto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. | Que actúa con reserva y sigilo para evitar posibles daños o inconvenientes |
Where the eye mixes cate and cauto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cate runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cauto's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cate and cauto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cate is [ˈkat̪e] while cauto is [ˈkawt̪o]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82593, 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]. cauto is at rank #44,034, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkawt̪o].
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 82593, this pair ranks #9,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cate vs cauto
Shared letters: act. Private to "cate": e. Private to "cauto": ou.
"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cauto" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cate" for "cauto" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cate" or "cauto" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cate" and "cauto" 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 "cauto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cate" and "cauto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cart vs cauto". 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 #9,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.