capevscárieWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,721
“cape” frequency rank
#40,971
“cárie” frequency rank
58692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cape cárie
Definition cabo ulceração nos dentes e ossos, que os destrói progressivamente

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
cape
5 ch
cárie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cape (/keɪp/, /keIp/) 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 58692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cape is recorded at frequency rank #17,721, classified as anoun, pronounced /keɪp/, /keIp/. 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 58692, this pair ranks #8,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cape vs cárie

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cape": ap. Private to "cárie": irá.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capeacpe · caep · cappe · ccape · cpae

Frequency comparison

cape#17,721
cárie#40,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cape" and "cárie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/keɪp/, /keIp/ versus /ˈka.ɾji/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cape" or "cárie"?
"cape" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,721 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 cape 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 “cape” 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