cortabavscortarlaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,567
“cortaba” frequency rank
#49,542
“cortarla” frequency rank
79109
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cortaba cortarla
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cortar o de cortarse. Desistir.

Where the eye mixes cortaba and cortarla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cortaba runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against cortarla's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
cortaba
8 ch
cortarla

Why the eye confuses cortaba with cortarla

A purely visual mix-up. cortaba ([koɾˈt̪aβ̞a]) and cortarla ([koɾˈt̪aɾla]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cortaba is recorded at frequency rank #29,567, classified as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aβ̞a]. cortarla is at rank #49,542, tagged as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aɾla].

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 79109, this pair ranks #13,466 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cortaba vs cortarla

Shared letters: acort. Private to "cortaba": b. Private to "cortarla": l.

"cortaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cortarla" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortaba ← ccortaba · coratba · corrtaba · cortaab · cortabba · cortava · cortbaa · corttaba
  • cortarla ← ccortarla · coratrla · corrtarla · cortalra · cortaral · cortarlla · cortarrla · cortrala

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cortaba" for "cortarla" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([koɾˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [koɾˈt̪aɾla]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cortaba" vs "cortarla" - which ranks higher?
"cortaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,567 in our Spanish list, against #49,542 for "cortarla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cortaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cortarla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,466 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cortaba" and "cortarla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cortaba vs cursaba". 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 #13,466 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