cruzanvscruzarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,943
“cruzan” frequency rank
#4,233
“cruzar” frequency rank
16176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cruzan cruzar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cruzar. Pasar por un sitio atravesándolo.

Where the eye mixes cruzan and cruzar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cruzan and cruzar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
cruzan
6 ch
cruzar

Visual trap between cruzan and cruzar

A purely visual mix-up. cruzan ([ˈkɾusãn]) and cruzar ([kɾuˈsaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “cruzan” becomes r in “cruzar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cruzan is recorded at frequency rank #11,943, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾusãn]. cruzar is at rank #4,233, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɾuˈsaɾ].

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 16176, this pair ranks #277,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cruzan vs cruzar

Shared letters: acruz. Private to "cruzan": n. Private to "cruzar": -.

"cruzan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "cruzar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cruzan ← ccruzan · crruzan · cruazn · cruzann · cruzna · cruzzan · crzuan · curzan
  • cruzar ← ccruzar · crruzar · cruazr · cruzarr · cruzra · cruzzar · crzuar · curzar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cruzan" and "cruzar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɾusãn] versus [kɾuˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cruzan" vs "cruzar" - which ranks higher?
"cruzar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,233 in our Spanish list, against #11,943 for "cruzan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cruzan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cruzar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #277,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cruzan" and "cruzar" 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 #277,210 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