kanvskatWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,425
“kan” frequency rank
#30,974
“kat” frequency rank
59399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kan kat
Definition Título que los tártaros daban a su príncipe o jefe. Gato.

Where the eye mixes kan and kat

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
kan
3 ch
kat

Visual trap between kan and kat

A purely visual mix-up. kan ([ˈkãn]) and kat ([kæd]) 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 a single letter - n in “kan” becomes t in “kat”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kan is recorded at frequency rank #28,425, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkãn]. kat is at rank #30,974, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kæd].

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 59399, this pair ranks #62,768 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kan vs kat

Shared letters: ak. Private to "kan": n. Private to "kat": t.

"kan" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "kat" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kan" for "kat" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkãn] versus [kæd]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kan" vs "kat" - which ranks higher?
"kan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,425 in our Spanish list, against #30,974 for "kat". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,768 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kan" and "kat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kano vs kat". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #62,768 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