creevscreyóWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#842
“cree” frequency rank
#8,244
“creyó” frequency rank
9086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cree creyó
Definition Perteneciente o relativo a una etnia amerindia, nativa de la región de los Grandes Lagos en Norteamérica, históricamente cazadores de la fauna subártica y secundariamente recolectores. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de creer o de creerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cree and creyó apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cree
5 ch
creyó

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cree is [ˈkɾee] while creyó is [kɾeˈʝo]. 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 9086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cree is recorded at frequency rank #842, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɾee]. creyó is at rank #8,244, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɾeˈʝo].

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 9086, this pair ranks #303,020 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cree vs creyó

Shared letters: cer. Private to "cree": -. Private to "creyó": .

"cree" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "creyó" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • creeccree · cere · cre · crree · rcee

Frequency comparison

cree#842
creyó#8,244

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cree" and "creyó" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cree" is an adjective and "creyó" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cree" or "creyó"?
"cree" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #842 in our Spanish list, against #8,244 for "creyó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cree vs creyó

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cree”; for a verb, it's “creyó”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cree” 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