Which to use
“cerca” is an adverb and “cercana” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #351
- “cerca” frequency rank
- #3,762
- “cercana” frequency rank
- 4113
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cerca | cercana |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pequeña distancia. | Forma del femenino singular de cercano. |
Where the eye mixes cerca and cercana
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cerca runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against cercana's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cerca with cercana
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cerca is [ˈseɾka] while cercana is [seɾˈkana]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cerca” sits inside “cercana”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cerca is recorded at frequency rank #351, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈseɾka]. cercana is at rank #3,762, tagged as anadj, pronounced [seɾˈkana].
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 4113, this pair ranks #316,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cerca vs cercana
Shared letters: acer. Private to "cerca": -. Private to "cercana": n.
"cerca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cercana" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cerca" for "cercana" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cerca" or "cercana"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cerca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cercana" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cerca" and "cercana" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceba vs cerca". 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 #316,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.