Which to use
“corn” is a noun and “cortan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,823
- “corn” frequency rank
- #11,941
- “cortan” frequency rank
- 53764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | corn | cortan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cuerno. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cortar o de cortarse. |
Where the eye mixes corn and cortan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses corn with cortan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: corn is [ˈkorn] while cortan is [ˈkoɾt̪ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
corn is recorded at frequency rank #41,823, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkorn]. cortan is at rank #11,941, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkoɾt̪ãn].
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 53764, this pair ranks #86,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of corn vs cortan
Shared letters: cnor. Private to "corn": -. Private to "cortan": at.
"corn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cortan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "corn" for "cortan" ever safe?
Frequency check: "corn" vs "cortan" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "corn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cortan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "corn" and "cortan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "corn vs count". 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 #86,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.