cate vs che, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“cate” and “che” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,559
“cate” frequency rank: #3,231
“che” frequency rank: 41790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cate	che
Definition	Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura.	Nombre del dígrafo ch.

Where the eye mixes cate and che

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch

cate

3 ch

che

Look-alike desk: cate vs che

A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and che ([ˈt͡ʃe]) 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 41790, 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]. che is at rank #3,231, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃe].

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 41790, this pair ranks #151,778 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cate vs che

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cate": at. Private to "che": h.

"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "che" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

cate ← acte · caet · catte · ccate · ctae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cate" and "che" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈkat̪e] versus [ˈt͡ʃe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "cate" or "che"?

"che" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,231 in our Spanish list, against #38,559 for "cate". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cate" and "che" 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 "che" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #151,778 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"cate" and "che" 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 #151,778 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.