causarvscauseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,308
“causar” frequency rank
#15,559
“cause” frequency rank
19867
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causar cause
Definition Que produce la causa su efecto. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de causar.

Where the eye mixes causar and cause

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
causar
5 ch
cause

Visual trap between causar and cause

A purely visual mix-up. causar ([kawˈsaɾ]) and cause ([ˈkawse]) 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 19867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causar is recorded at frequency rank #4,308, classified as averb, pronounced [kawˈsaɾ]. cause is at rank #15,559, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkawse].

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 19867, this pair ranks #261,872 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of causar vs cause

Shared letters: acsu. Private to "causar": r. Private to "cause": e.

"causar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "cause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • causarcasuar · cauasr · causarr · causra · caussar · ccausar · cuasar
  • causeacuse · casue · caues · causse · ccause · cuase

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "causar" and "cause" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kawˈsaɾ] versus [ˈkawse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "causar" or "cause" show up more?
"causar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,308 in our Spanish list, against #15,559 for "cause". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "causar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cause" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #261,872 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "causar" and "cause" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "catre vs cause". 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 #261,872 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