cortarsevscortasTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#27,547
“cortarse” frequency rank
#6,046
“cortas” frequency rank
33593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cortarse cortas
Definition Hacerse un corte¹₄ en el propio cuerpo. Forma del femenino plural de corto.

Where the eye mixes cortarse and cortas

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

8 ch
cortarse
6 ch
cortas

Visual trap between cortarse and cortas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cortarse is [koɾˈt̪aɾse] while cortas is [ˈkoɾt̪as]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cortarse is recorded at frequency rank #27,547, classified as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aɾse]. cortas is at rank #6,046, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkoɾt̪as].

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 33593, this pair ranks #195,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cortarse vs cortas

Shared letters: acorst. Private to "cortarse": e. Private to "cortas": -.

"cortarse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "cortas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortarseccortarse · coratrse · corrtarse · cortarce · cortares · cortarrse · cortarsse · cortasre
  • cortasccortas · corats · corrtas · cortass · cortsa · corttas · cotras · crotas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cortarse" and "cortas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cortarse" is a verb and "cortas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cortarse" or "cortas"?
"cortas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,046 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.

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 "cortarse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cortas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cortarse" and "cortas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cortarla vs cortarse". 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 #195,972 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