cuidavscuídateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,390
“cuida” frequency rank
#16,305
“cuídate” frequency rank
22695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuida cuídate
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cuidar o de cuidarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de cuidarse (con el pronombre enclítico).

Where the eye mixes cuida and cuídate

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

5 ch
cuida
7 ch
cuídate

Look-alike desk: cuida vs cuídate

A purely visual mix-up. cuida ([ˈkwið̞a]) and cuídate ([ˈkwið̞at̪e]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuida is recorded at frequency rank #6,390, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkwið̞a]. cuídate is at rank #16,305, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkwið̞at̪e].

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 22695, this pair ranks #249,158 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cuida vs cuídate

Shared letters: acdu. Private to "cuida": i. Private to "cuídate": etí.

"cuida" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "cuídate" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuidaccuida · ciuda · cudia · cuiad · cuidda · ucida

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuida" and "cuídate" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkwið̞a] versus [ˈkwið̞at̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cuida" vs "cuídate" - which ranks higher?
"cuida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,390 in our Spanish list, against #16,305 for "cuídate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cuida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuídate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,158 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuida" and "cuídate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "climate vs cuídate". 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 #249,158 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