Which to use
“cuentan” is a verb and “cuento” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,492
- “cuentan” frequency rank
- #1,843
- “cuento” frequency rank
- 4335
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cuentan | cuento |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contar. | Narración de un hecho ficticio, verídico o una mezcla de ambos. |
Where the eye mixes cuentan and cuento
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cuentan vs cuento
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cuentan is [ˈkwẽn̪t̪ãn] while cuento is [ˈkwẽn̪t̪o]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cuentan is recorded at frequency rank #2,492, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkwẽn̪t̪ãn]. cuento is at rank #1,843, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkwẽn̪t̪o].
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 4335, this pair ranks #316,333 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cuentan vs cuento
Shared letters: centu. Private to "cuentan": a. Private to "cuento": o.
"cuentan" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "cuento" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cuentan" for "cuento" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cuentan" or "cuento" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cuentan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuento" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,333 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cuentan" and "cuento" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cruenta vs cuentan". 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 #316,333 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.