Which to use
“cate” and “cava” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- #19,946
- “cava” frequency rank
- 58505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cate | cava |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. | Cueva. |
Where the eye mixes cate and cava
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cate vs cava
A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and cava ([ˈkaβ̞a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58505, 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]. cava is at rank #19,946, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞a].
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 58505, this pair ranks #66,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cate vs cava
Shared letters: ac. Private to "cate": et. Private to "cava": v.
"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cava" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cate" and "cava" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cate" or "cava" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cava" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cate" and "cava" 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 #66,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.