cortantevscortarseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cortante is a adjective, cortarse is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cortante” is an adjective and “cortarse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,781
“cortante” frequency rank
#27,547
“cortarse” frequency rank
54328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cortante cortarse
Definition Que corta (en las diferentes acepciones de "cortar"). Hacerse un corte¹₄ en el propio cuerpo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cortante and cortarse apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
cortante
8 ch
cortarse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cortante is [koɾˈt̪ãn̪t̪e] while cortarse is [koɾˈt̪aɾse]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cortante is recorded at frequency rank #26,781, classified as anadj, pronounced [koɾˈt̪ãn̪t̪e]. cortarse is at rank #27,547, tagged as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aɾse].

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 54328, this pair ranks #83,840 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cortante vs cortarse

Shared letters: aceort. Private to "cortante": n. Private to "cortarse": s.

"cortante" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "cortarse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortanteccortante · coratnte · corrtante · cortanet · cortannte · cortantte · cortatne · cortnate
  • cortarseccortarse · coratrse · corrtarse · cortarce · cortares · cortarrse · cortarsse · cortasre

Frequency comparison

cortante#26,781
cortarse#27,547

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cortante" and "cortarse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cortante" is an adjective and "cortarse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cortante" or "cortarse"?
"cortante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,781 in our Spanish list, against #27,547 for "cortarse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cortante vs cortarse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cortante”; for a verb, it's “cortarse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cortante” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list