causar vs caviar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“causar” is a verb and “caviar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,619
“causar” frequency rank: #26,299
“caviar” frequency rank: 28918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	causar	caviar
Definition	fazer acontecer, ser causa de	iguaria feita de ovas salgadas de peixe, normalmente o esturjão

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set causar and caviar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

causar

6 ch

caviar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: causar is /kaw.ˈzaɾ/ while caviar is /kɐ.ˈvjaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causar is recorded at frequency rank #2,619, classified as averb, pronounced /kaw.ˈzaɾ/. caviar is at rank #26,299, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈvjaɾ/.

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 28918, this pair ranks #39,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of causar vs caviar

Shared letters: acr. Private to "causar": su. Private to "caviar": iv.

"causar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "caviar" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

causar ← casuar · cauasr · causarr · causra · caussar · ccausar · cuasar
caviar ← acviar · caivar · cavair · caviarr · cavira · cavviar · ccaviar · cvaiar

Frequency comparison

causar#2,619

caviar#26,299

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "causar" and "caviar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "causar" is a verb and "caviar" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "causar" or "caviar"?

"causar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,619 in our Portuguese list, against #26,299 for "caviar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering causar vs caviar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “causar”; for a noun, it's “caviar”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “causar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable