Which to use
“crían” and “criar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,409
- “crían” frequency rank
- #12,791
- “criar” frequency rank
- 43200
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crían | criar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de criar o de criarse. | Producir algo de la nada. |
Where the eye mixes crían and criar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crían and criar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: crían vs criar
A purely visual mix-up. crían ([ˈkɾiãn]) and criar ([ˈkɾjaɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crían is recorded at frequency rank #30,409, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾiãn]. criar is at rank #12,791, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾjaɾ].
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 43200, this pair ranks #144,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crían vs criar
Shared letters: acr. Private to "crían": ní. Private to "criar": i.
"crían" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "criar" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- criar ← ccriar · cirar · crair · criarr · crira · crriar · rciar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crían" for "criar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "crían" or "criar"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "criar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #144,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crían" and "criar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coin vs crían". 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 #144,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.