catevscraneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,559
“cate” frequency rank
#39,140
“crane” frequency rank
77699
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cate crane
Definition Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. Grulla.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cate and crane apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cate
5 ch
crane

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and crane (/kɹeɪn/) 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 77699, 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]. crane is at rank #39,140, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹeɪn/.

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 77699, this pair ranks #15,585 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cate vs crane

Shared letters: ace. Private to "cate": t. Private to "crane": nr.

"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "crane" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cateacte · caet · catte · ccate · ctae
  • craneccrane · cranne · crnae · crrane · rcane

Frequency comparison

cate#38,559
crane#39,140

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cate" and "crane" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkat̪e] versus /kɹeɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cate" or "crane"?
"cate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,559 in our Spanish list, against #39,140 for "crane". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cate vs crane

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cate” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list