Which to use
“ciervo” is a noun and “siervo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,953
- “ciervo” frequency rank
- #20,829
- “siervo” frequency rank
- 40782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ciervo | siervo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mamífero rumiante con cornamentas y pezuñas partidas en dos de la familia Cérvidos (Cervidae), o alguno de los animales similares del orden Artiodáctilos (Artiodactyla). | Persona que trabaja para otro en condición de sometimiento y servidumbre. |
Same sound, different letters: ciervo vs siervo
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. ciervo and siervo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Ear matches; page differs - ciervo and siervo
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ciervo and siervo carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈsjeɾβ̞o]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - c in “ciervo” becomes s in “siervo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ciervo is recorded at frequency rank #19,953, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsjeɾβ̞o]. siervo is at rank #20,829, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈsjeɾβ̞o].
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 40782, this pair ranks #157,248 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ciervo vs siervo
Shared letters: eiorv. Private to "ciervo": c. Private to "siervo": s.
"ciervo" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "siervo" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ciervo" for "siervo" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ciervo" or "siervo" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "ciervo" / "siervo". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "ciervo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "siervo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,248 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ciervo" and "siervo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cierva vs ciervo". 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 #157,248 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.