cuidavscuidesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,390
“cuida” frequency rank
#34,971
“cuides” frequency rank
41361
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuida cuides
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 presente de subjuntivo de cuidar o de cuidarse.

Where the eye mixes cuida and cuides

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

5 ch
cuida
6 ch
cuides

Why the eye confuses cuida with cuides

A purely visual mix-up. cuida ([ˈkwið̞a]) and cuides ([ˈkwið̞es]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41361, 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]. cuides is at rank #34,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkwið̞es].

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 41361, this pair ranks #154,083 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cuida vs cuides

Shared letters: cdiu. Private to "cuida": a. Private to "cuides": es.

"cuida" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "cuides" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuidaccuida · ciuda · cudia · cuiad · cuidda · ucida
  • cuidesccuides · ciudes · cudies · cuiddes · cuidess · cuidse · cuieds · ucides

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cuida" for "cuides" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkwið̞a] versus [ˈkwið̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cuida" vs "cuides" - which ranks higher?
"cuida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,390 in our Spanish list, against #34,971 for "cuides". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cuida" and "cuides" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuides" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154,083 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuida" and "cuides" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuídense vs cuides". 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 #154,083 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