ciervavscuerdaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,290
“cierva” frequency rank
#5,193
“cuerda” frequency rank
53483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cierva cuerda
Definition Forma del femenino singular de ciervo. Cuerpo de material flexible, largo y delgado, formado por múltiples hilos trenzados o torzados para unirlos, empleado para atar.

Where the eye mixes cierva and cuerda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cierva
6 ch
cuerda

Look-alike desk: cierva vs cuerda

A purely visual mix-up. cierva ([ˈsjeɾβ̞a]) and cuerda ([ˈkweɾð̞a]) 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 53483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cierva is recorded at frequency rank #48,290, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsjeɾβ̞a]. cuerda is at rank #5,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkweɾð̞a].

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 53483, this pair ranks #87,653 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cierva vs cuerda

Shared letters: acer. Private to "cierva": iv. Private to "cuerda": du.

"cierva" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "cuerda" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ciervaccierva · ceirva · cierav · cierba · cierrva · ciervva · cievra · cireva
  • cuerdaccuerda · ceurda · cuedra · cuerad · cuerdda · cuerrda · cureda · ucerda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cierva" for "cuerda" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsjeɾβ̞a] versus [ˈkweɾð̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cierva" or "cuerda"?
"cuerda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,193 in our Spanish list, against #48,290 for "cierva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cierva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuerda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #87,653 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cierva" and "cuerda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cierne vs cierva". 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 #87,653 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