Which to use
“cómo” is an adverb and “cuyo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #124
- “cómo” frequency rank
- #1,240
- “cuyo” frequency rank
- 1364
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cómo | cuyo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De qué manera. | Caso de genitivo del pronombre relativo, equivalente a de quien, de que o del cual. |
Where the eye mixes cómo and cuyo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cómo vs cuyo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cómo is [ˈkomo] while cuyo is [ˈkuʝo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cómo is recorded at frequency rank #124, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈkomo]. cuyo is at rank #1,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkuʝo].
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 1364, this pair ranks #322,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cómo vs cuyo
Shared letters: co. Private to "cómo": mó. Private to "cuyo": uy.
"cómo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cuyo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cuyo ← ccuyo · cuoy · cuyyo · cyuo · ucyo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cómo" and "cuyo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cómo" or "cuyo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cómo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuyo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cómo" and "cuyo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuc vs cuyo". 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 #322,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.