causarvscausenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,308
“causar” frequency rank
#36,971
“causen” frequency rank
41279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causar causen
Definition Que produce la causa su efecto. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de causar.

Where the eye mixes causar and causen

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

6 ch
causar
6 ch
causen

Look-alike desk: causar vs causen

A purely visual mix-up. causar ([kawˈsaɾ]) and causen ([ˈkawsẽn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41279, 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]. causen is at rank #36,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkawsẽn].

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 41279, this pair ranks #154,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of causar vs causen

Shared letters: acsu. Private to "causar": r. Private to "causen": en.

"causar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "causen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • causarcasuar · cauasr · causarr · causra · caussar · ccausar · cuasar
  • causenacusen · casuen · caucen · cauesn · causenn · causne · caussen · ccausen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "causar" and "causen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kawˈsaɾ] versus [ˈkawsẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "causar" or "causen" show up more?
"causar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,308 in our Spanish list, against #36,971 for "causen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "causar" and "causen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "causar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "causen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "causar" and "causen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calmen vs causen". 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 #154,522 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