caucevscueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,038
“cauce” frequency rank
#35,969
“cue” frequency rank
51007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cauce cue
Definition Lecho de los ríos y arroyos. Señal que se emplea para marcar el inicio de una acción.

Where the eye mixes cauce and cue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cauce
3 ch
cue

Why the eye confuses cauce with cue

A purely visual mix-up. cauce ([ˈkawse]) and cue (/kjuː/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cauce is recorded at frequency rank #15,038, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkawse]. cue is at rank #35,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kjuː/.

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 51007, this pair ranks #100,189 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cauce vs cue

Shared letters: ceu. Private to "cauce": a. Private to "cue": -.

"cauce" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "cue" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cauceacuce · cacue · caucce · cauec · ccauce · cuace

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cauce" and "cue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkawse] versus /kjuː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cauce" or "cue"?
"cauce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,038 in our Spanish list, against #35,969 for "cue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cauce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #100,189 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cauce" and "cue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuc vs cue". 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 #100,189 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list