Which to use
“café” is a noun and “cair” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #931
- “café” frequency rank
- #1,522
- “cair” frequency rank
- 2453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | café | cair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fruto gerado pelo cafeeiro | dar queda |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set café and cair apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: café is anoun and cairaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
café is recorded at frequency rank #931, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈfɛ/. cair is at rank #1,522, tagged as averb.
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 2453, this pair ranks #72,937 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of café vs cair
Shared letters: ac. Private to "café": fé. Private to "cair": ir.
"café" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cair ← acir · cairr · cari · ccair · ciar
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "café" and "cair" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "café" or "cair"?
Remembering café vs cair
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “café”; for a verb, it's “cair”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “café” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable