caeríanvscierranWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“caerían” and “cierran” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,865
“caerían” frequency rank
#8,774
“cierran” frequency rank
57639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caerían cierran
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del condicional de caer o de caerse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cerrar o de cerrarse.

Where the eye mixes caerían and cierran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caerían (CVVCVVC) and cierran (CVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
caerían
7 ch
cierran

Visual trap between caerían and cierran

A purely visual mix-up. caerían ([kaeˈɾiãn]) and cierran ([ˈsjerãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caerían is recorded at frequency rank #48,865, classified as averb, pronounced [kaeˈɾiãn]. cierran is at rank #8,774, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsjerãn].

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 57639, this pair ranks #69,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caerían vs cierran

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "caerían": í. Private to "cierran": i.

"caerían" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC  ·  "cierran" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cierran ← ccierran · ceirran · cieran · cierarn · cierrann · cierrna · cireran · icerran

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caerían" for "cierran" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaeˈɾiãn] versus [ˈsjerãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caerían" or "cierran"?
"cierran" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,774 in our Spanish list, against #48,865 for "caerían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caerían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cierran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caerían" and "cierran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caerían vs crecían". 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 #69,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list