ciernesvscierrasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,199
“ciernes” frequency rank
#30,807
“cierras” frequency rank
76006
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ciernes cierras
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de cerner. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de cerrar o de cerrarse.

Where the eye mixes ciernes and cierras

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ciernes and cierras follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
ciernes
7 ch
cierras

Why the eye confuses ciernes with cierras

A purely visual mix-up. ciernes ([ˈsjeɾnes]) and cierras ([ˈsjeras]) 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 76006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ciernes is recorded at frequency rank #45,199, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsjeɾnes]. cierras is at rank #30,807, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsjeras].

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 76006, this pair ranks #18,495 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ciernes vs cierras

Shared letters: ceirs. Private to "ciernes": n. Private to "cierras": a.

"ciernes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "cierras" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ciernes ← cciernes · ceirnes · cienres · cierens · cierness · ciernnes · ciernse · cierrnes
  • cierras ← ccierras · ceirras · cierars · cieras · cierrass · cierrsa · cireras · icerras

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ciernes" for "cierras" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsjeɾnes] versus [ˈsjeras]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ciernes" or "cierras" show up more?
"cierras" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,807 in our Spanish list, against #45,199 for "ciernes". 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 "ciernes" and "cierras" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ciernes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cierras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,495 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ciernes" and "cierras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciernes vs ciprés". 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 #18,495 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