cansadovscursadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cansado is a adjective, cursado is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cansado” is an adjective and “cursado” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,987
“cansado” frequency rank
#32,599
“cursado” frequency rank
36586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cansado cursado
Definition Débil físicamente, por exceso de ejercicio o por enfermedad. Participio de cursar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cansado and cursado apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cansado
7 ch
cursado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cansado is [kãnˈsað̞o] while cursado is [kuɾˈsað̞o]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cansado is recorded at frequency rank #3,987, classified as anadj, pronounced [kãnˈsað̞o]. cursado is at rank #32,599, tagged as averb, pronounced [kuɾˈsað̞o].

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 36586, this pair ranks #179,852 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cansado vs cursado

Shared letters: acdos. Private to "cansado": n. Private to "cursado": ru.

"cansado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cursado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cansadoacnsado · canasdo · cannsado · cansaddo · cansaod · cansdao · canssado · casnado
  • cursadoccursado · crusado · curasdo · currsado · cursaddo · cursaod · cursdao · curssado

Frequency comparison

cansado#3,987
cursado#32,599

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cansado" and "cursado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cansado" is an adjective and "cursado" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cansado" or "cursado"?
"cansado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,987 in our Spanish list, against #32,599 for "cursado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cansado vs cursado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cansado”; for a verb, it's “cursado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cansado” 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