creervscreerseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“creer” and “creerse” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#864
“creer” frequency rank
#19,073
“creerse” frequency rank
19937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature creer creerse
Definition Estar persuadido de que algo es cierto. Imaginarse, figurarse, pensar alguna cosa.

Where the eye mixes creer and creerse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. creer runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against creerse's 7 (CCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
creer
7 ch
creerse

Look-alike desk: creer vs creerse

A purely visual mix-up. creer ([kɾeˈeɾ]) and creerse ([kɾeˈeɾse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “creer” sits inside “creerse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

creer is recorded at frequency rank #864, classified as averb, pronounced [kɾeˈeɾ]. creerse is at rank #19,073, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɾeˈeɾse].

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 19937, this pair ranks #261,542 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of creer vs creerse

Shared letters: cer. Private to "creer": -. Private to "creerse": s.

"creer" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "creerse" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • creer ← ccreer · cerer · creerr · crer · crere · crreer · rceer
  • creerse ← ccreerse · cererse · creerce · creeres · creerrse · creersse · creesre · crerese

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "creer" for "creerse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kɾeˈeɾ] versus [kɾeˈeɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "creer" or "creerse"?
"creer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #864 in our Spanish list, against #19,073 for "creerse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "creer" and "creerse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "creer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "creerse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #261,542 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "creer" and "creerse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "creeré vs creerse". 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 #261,542 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