Which to use
“cien” is a num and “cine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,593
- “cien” frequency rank
- #961
- “cine” frequency rank
- 3554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cien | cine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diez veces diez. | Arte de hacer películas para su exposición en salas de espectáculo. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cien and cine apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
cien and cine form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (en ↔ ne) - a transposition the eye reads straight past - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cien is recorded at frequency rank #2,593, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈsjẽn]. cine is at rank #961, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsine].
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 3554, this pair ranks #318,062 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cien" and "cine" be used interchangeably?
Remembering cien vs cine
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a num, it's “cien”; for a noun, it's “cine”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cien” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable