cedevscerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cede is a verb, cer is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,526
“cede” frequency rank
#38,564
“cer” frequency rank
55090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cede cer
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ceder. Cielo

Where the eye mixes cede and cer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cede
3 ch
cer

Visual trap between cede and cer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cede is [ˈseð̞e] while cer is / t͡ʃer /. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cede is recorded at frequency rank #16,526, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈseð̞e]. cer is at rank #38,564, tagged as anoun, pronounced / t͡ʃer /.

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 55090, this pair ranks #80,435 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cede vs cer

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cede": d. Private to "cer": r.

"cede" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cer" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cedeccede · cdee · cedde · ceed · ecde

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cede" and "cer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cede" is a verb and "cer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cede" or "cer" show up more?
"cede" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,526 in our Spanish list, against #38,564 for "cer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "cede" and "cer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cede" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #80,435 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cede" and "cer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cer vs cuc". 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 #80,435 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