calevscárieWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cale” and “cárie” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,719
“cale” frequency rank
#40,971
“cárie” frequency rank
58690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cale cárie
Definition calço, cunha, escora, apoio ulceração nos dentes e ossos, que os destrói progressivamente

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cale and cárie apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cale
5 ch
cárie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cale (/kal/) and cárie (/ˈka.ɾji/) 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 58690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cale is recorded at frequency rank #17,719, classified as anoun, pronounced /kal/. cárie is at rank #40,971, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.ɾji/.

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 58690, this pair ranks #8,601 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cale vs cárie

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cale": al. Private to "cárie": irá.

"cale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cárie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caleacle · cael · calle · ccale · clae

Frequency comparison

cale#17,719
cárie#40,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cale" and "cárie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kal/ versus /ˈka.ɾji/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cale" or "cárie"?
"cale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,719 in our Portuguese list, against #40,971 for "cárie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cale vs cárie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cale” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list