cuentavscuerdaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#130
“cuenta” frequency rank
#5,193
“cuerda” frequency rank
5323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuenta cuerda
Definition Acción o efecto de contar. Cuerpo de material flexible, largo y delgado, formado por múltiples hilos trenzados o torzados para unirlos, empleado para atar.

Where the eye mixes cuenta and cuerda

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

6 ch
cuenta
6 ch
cuerda

Why the eye confuses cuenta with cuerda

A purely visual mix-up. cuenta ([ˈkwẽn̪t̪a]) and cuerda ([ˈkweɾð̞a]) 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 5323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuenta is recorded at frequency rank #130, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkwẽn̪t̪a]. cuerda is at rank #5,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkweɾð̞a].

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 5323, this pair ranks #313,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cuenta vs cuerda

Shared letters: aceu. Private to "cuenta": nt. Private to "cuerda": dr.

"cuenta" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "cuerda" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuentaccuenta · ceunta · cuenat · cuennta · cuentta · cuetna · ucenta
  • cuerdaccuerda · ceurda · cuedra · cuerad · cuerdda · cuerrda · cureda · ucerda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cuenta" for "cuerda" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkwẽn̪t̪a] versus [ˈkweɾð̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cuenta" or "cuerda"?
"cuenta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #130 in our Spanish list, against #5,193 for "cuerda". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuenta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuerda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #313,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuenta" and "cuerda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cierva vs cuerda". 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 #313,901 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