cuentovscuervoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,843
“cuento” frequency rank
#11,552
“cuervo” frequency rank
13395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuento cuervo
Definition Narración de un hecho ficticio, verídico o una mezcla de ambos. (familia Corvidae) Cualquiera de más de un centenar de especies de aves paseriformes, de distribución cosmopolita, de tamaño medio a grande, robusto pico y patas, hábito sedentario y alimentación omnívora, especialmente carroñera.

Where the eye mixes cuento and cuervo

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

6 ch
cuento
6 ch
cuervo

Visual trap between cuento and cuervo

A purely visual mix-up. cuento ([ˈkwẽn̪t̪o]) and cuervo ([ˈkweɾβ̞o]) 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 13395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuento is recorded at frequency rank #1,843, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkwẽn̪t̪o]. cuervo is at rank #11,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkweɾβ̞o].

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 13395, this pair ranks #288,028 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cuento vs cuervo

Shared letters: ceou. Private to "cuento": nt. Private to "cuervo": rv.

"cuento" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "cuervo" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuentoccuento · ceunto · cuennto · cuenot · cuentto · cuetno · cuneto · ucento
  • cuervoccuervo · ceurvo · cuerbo · cuerov · cuerrvo · cuervvo · cuevro · curevo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cuento" for "cuervo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkwẽn̪t̪o] versus [ˈkweɾβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cuento" or "cuervo"?
"cuento" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,843 in our Spanish list, against #11,552 for "cuervo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuento" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuervo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #288,028 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuento" and "cuervo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cierva vs cuervo". 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 #288,028 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