certain

[sɛʁ.tɛ̃]

/[sɛʁ.tɛ̃]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“certain” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #73,464 among 77,812 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,464
frequency rank, Spanish
77,812
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Cierto.

Key facts for certain
PropertyValue
Headwordcertain
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[sɛʁ.tɛ̃]
Letters7
Frequency rank#73,464
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “certain” sits in Spanish frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). certain lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

certain is uncommon Spanish at frequency #73,464 among 77,812 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [sɛʁ.tɛ̃]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for certain in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular Spanish conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is certain, spelled C-E-R-T-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cierto.
  2. 2
    Seguro.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "certain"?
"certain" is spelled C-E-R-T-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is [sɛʁ.tɛ̃].
What does "certain" mean?
As an adjective, "certain" means: Cierto.
How do you pronounce "certain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "certain" is [sɛʁ.tɛ̃]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "certain" come from?
"certain" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “certain”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is C-E-R-T-A-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [sɛʁ.tɛ̃] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words

Other uncommon Spanish words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list