ciervavscuervoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,290
“cierva” frequency rank
#11,552
“cuervo” frequency rank
59842
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cierva cuervo
Definition Forma del femenino singular de ciervo. (familia Corvidae) Cualquiera de más de un centenar de especies de aves paseriformes, de distribución cosmopolita, de tamaño medio a grande, robusto pico y patas, hábito sedentario y alimentación omnívora, especialmente carroñera.

Where the eye mixes cierva and cuervo

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

6 ch
cierva
6 ch
cuervo

Look-alike desk: cierva vs cuervo

A purely visual mix-up. cierva ([ˈsjeɾβ̞a]) and cuervo ([ˈkweɾβ̞o]) 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 59842, 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]. cuervo is at rank #11,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkweɾβ̞o].

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 59842, this pair ranks #61,134 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cierva vs cuervo

Shared letters: cerv. Private to "cierva": ai. Private to "cuervo": ou.

"cierva" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "cuervo" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ciervaccierva · ceirva · cierav · cierba · cierrva · ciervva · cievra · cireva
  • cuervoccuervo · ceurvo · cuerbo · cuerov · cuerrvo · cuervvo · cuevro · curevo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cierva" and "cuervo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsjeɾβ̞a] versus [ˈkweɾβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cierva" or "cuervo"?
"cuervo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,552 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cierva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuervo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,134 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cierva" and "cuervo" 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 #61,134 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