Which to use
“cate” and “clave” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- #1,401
- “clave” frequency rank
- 39960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cate | clave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. | Explicación de los signos convenidos para escribir en cifra, o de cualesquiera otros distintos de los conocidos o usuales. |
Where the eye mixes cate and clave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cate and clave
A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and clave ([ˈklaβ̞e]) 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 39960, 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]. clave is at rank #1,401, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞e].
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 39960, this pair ranks #161,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cate vs clave
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cate": t. Private to "clave": lv.
"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "clave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cate" for "clave" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cate" or "clave" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cate" and "clave" 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 "clave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #161,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cate" and "clave" 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 #161,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.