cortasvscotasWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,046
“cortas” frequency rank
#27,549
“cotas” frequency rank
33595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cortas cotas
Definition Forma del femenino plural de corto. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de cotar.

Where the eye mixes cortas and cotas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cortas
5 ch
cotas

Look-alike desk: cortas vs cotas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cortas is [ˈkoɾt̪as] while cotas is [ˈkot̪as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cortas is recorded at frequency rank #6,046, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkoɾt̪as]. cotas is at rank #27,549, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkot̪as].

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 33595, this pair ranks #195,955 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cortas vs cotas

Shared letters: acost. Private to "cortas": r. Private to "cotas": -.

"cortas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "cotas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortasccortas · corats · corrtas · cortass · cortsa · corttas · cotras · crotas
  • cotasccotas · coats · cotass · cottas · ctoas · octas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cortas" for "cotas" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cortas" is an adjective and "cotas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cortas" or "cotas" show up more?
"cortas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,046 in our Spanish list, against #27,549 for "cotas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cortas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cotas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,955 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cortas" and "cotas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cotas vs Cova". 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 #195,955 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