Which to use
“cape” and “cave” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,721
- “cape” frequency rank
- #17,725
- “cave” frequency rank
- 35446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cape | cave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cabo | pavimento de uma casa abaixo do leito da rua |
Where the eye mixes cape and cave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cape and cave
A purely visual mix-up. cape (/keɪp/, /keIp/) and cave (/ˈka.vɨ/) 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 - p in “cape” becomes v in “cave”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35446, 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/. cave is at rank #17,725, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.vɨ/.
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 35446, this pair ranks #31,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cape vs cave
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cape": p. Private to "cave": v.
"cape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cape" and "cave" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cape" vs "cave" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cape" and "cave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cape vs caspa". 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 #31,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.