cuidanvscuídateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,335
“cuidan” frequency rank
#16,305
“cuídate” frequency rank
31640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuidan cuídate
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 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 cuidan and cuídate

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

6 ch
cuidan
7 ch
cuídate

Look-alike desk: cuidan vs cuídate

A purely visual mix-up. cuidan ([ˈkwið̞ãn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuidan is recorded at frequency rank #15,335, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkwið̞ãn]. 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 31640, this pair ranks #206,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cuidan vs cuídate

Shared letters: acdu. Private to "cuidan": in. Private to "cuídate": etí.

"cuidan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "cuídate" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuidanccuidan · ciudan · cudian · cuiadn · cuidann · cuiddan · cuidna · ucidan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuidan" and "cuídate" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkwið̞ãn] versus [ˈkwið̞at̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cuidan" vs "cuídate" - which ranks higher?
"cuidan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,335 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuidan" 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 #206,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuidan" and "cuídate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuadran vs cuidan". 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 #206,045 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