Which to use
“cuestan” is a verb and “cuestas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,010
- “cuestan” frequency rank
- #22,637
- “cuestas” frequency rank
- 35647
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cuestan | cuestas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de costar. | Forma del plural de cuesta. |
Where the eye mixes cuestan and cuestas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cuestan and cuestas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cuestan with cuestas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cuestan is [ˈkwest̪ãn] while cuestas is [ˈkwest̪as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “cuestan” becomes s in “cuestas”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cuestan is recorded at frequency rank #13,010, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkwest̪ãn]. cuestas is at rank #22,637, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkwest̪as].
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 35647, this pair ranks #184,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cuestan vs cuestas
Shared letters: acestu. Private to "cuestan": n. Private to "cuestas": -.
"cuestan" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "cuestas" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cuestan" and "cuestas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cuestan" or "cuestas" show up more?
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 "cuestan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuestas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cuestan" and "cuestas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuestas vs cultas". 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 #184,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.