Which to use
“cruzado” is an adjective and “cruzan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,501
- “cruzado” frequency rank
- #11,943
- “cruzan” frequency rank
- 20444
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cruzado | cruzan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que lleva una cruz como parte del blasón. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cruzar. |
Where the eye mixes cruzado and cruzan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cruzado runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against cruzan's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cruzado with cruzan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cruzado is [kɾuˈsað̞o] while cruzan is [ˈkɾusãn]. 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 20444, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cruzado is recorded at frequency rank #8,501, classified as anadj, pronounced [kɾuˈsað̞o]. cruzan is at rank #11,943, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾusãn].
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 20444, this pair ranks #259,310 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cruzado vs cruzan
Shared letters: acruz. Private to "cruzado": do. Private to "cruzan": n.
"cruzado" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "cruzan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cruzado" for "cruzan" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cruzado" or "cruzan" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cruzado" and "cruzan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cruzado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cruzan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,310 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cruzado" and "cruzan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cruzaban vs cruzan". 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 #259,310 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.