críavscríanConfusable pair

Quick tell: cría is a noun, crían is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cría” is a noun and “crían” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,270
“cría” frequency rank
#30,409
“crían” frequency rank
39679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cría crían
Definition Acción o efecto de criar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de criar o de criarse.

Where the eye mixes cría and crían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cría
5 ch
crían

Why the eye confuses cría with crían

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cría is [ˈkɾia] while crían is [ˈkɾiãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “cría” sits inside “crían”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cría is recorded at frequency rank #9,270, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɾia]. crían is at rank #30,409, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾiãn].

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 39679, this pair ranks #163,222 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cría vs crían

Shared letters: acrí. Private to "cría": -. Private to "crían": n.

"cría" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "crían" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cría" and "crían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cría" is a noun and "crían" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cría" or "crían"?
"cría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,270 in our Spanish list, against #30,409 for "crían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cría" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "crían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,222 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cría" and "crían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coin vs crían". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #163,222 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