Which to use
“cortaban” is a verb and “Cortázar” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,666
- “cortaban” frequency rank
- #19,970
- “Cortázar” frequency rank
- 64636
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cortaban | Cortázar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cortar. | Apellido |
Where the eye mixes cortaban and Cortázar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cortaban and Cortázar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cortaban with Cortázar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cortaban is [koɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn] while Cortázar is [koɾˈt̪asaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cortaban is recorded at frequency rank #44,666, classified as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. Cortázar is at rank #19,970, tagged as aname, pronounced [koɾˈt̪asaɾ].
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 64636, this pair ranks #45,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cortaban vs Cortázar
Shared letters: acort. Private to "cortaban": bn. Private to "Cortázar": zá.
"cortaban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "Cortázar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cortaban ← ccortaban · coratban · corrtaban · cortaabn · cortabann · cortabban · cortabna · cortavan
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cortaban" for "Cortázar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cortaban" or "Cortázar"?
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 "cortaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Cortázar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cortaban" and "Cortázar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cortaban vs creaban". 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 #45,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.