cansevscurseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,131
“canse” frequency rank
#44,090
“curse” frequency rank
71221
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature canse curse
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de cansar o de cansarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de cursar.

Where the eye mixes canse and curse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. canse and curse follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
canse
5 ch
curse

Look-alike desk: canse vs curse

A purely visual mix-up. canse ([ˈkãnse]) and curse ([ˈkuɾse]) 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 71221, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

canse is recorded at frequency rank #27,131, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkãnse]. curse is at rank #44,090, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkuɾse].

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 71221, this pair ranks #27,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of canse vs curse

Shared letters: ces. Private to "canse": an. Private to "curse": ru.

"canse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "curse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canse ← acnse · cance · cansse · casne · ccanse · cnase
  • curse ← ccurse · cruse · curce · cures · currse · cursse · cusre · ucrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "canse" and "curse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkãnse] versus [ˈkuɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "canse" or "curse"?
"canse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,131 in our Spanish list, against #44,090 for "curse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "canse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "curse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "canse" and "curse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "curse vs curt". 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 #27,973 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