cultivavscultivarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,209
“cultiva” frequency rank
#9,271
“cultivar” frequency rank
27480
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cultiva cultivar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cultivar. Trabajar la tierra para obtener productos agrícolas con mayor rendimiento del que dan naturalmente

Where the eye mixes cultiva and cultivar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cultiva runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against cultivar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
cultiva
8 ch
cultivar

Look-alike desk: cultiva vs cultivar

A purely visual mix-up. cultiva ([kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞a]) and cultivar ([kul̪t̪iˈβ̞aɾ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “cultiva” sits inside “cultivar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cultiva is recorded at frequency rank #18,209, classified as averb, pronounced [kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞a]. cultivar is at rank #9,271, tagged as averb, pronounced [kul̪t̪iˈβ̞aɾ].

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 27480, this pair ranks #226,646 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cultiva vs cultivar

Shared letters: aciltuv. Private to "cultiva": -. Private to "cultivar": r.

"cultiva" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cultivar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cultiva ← ccultiva · clutiva · culitva · culltiva · cultiav · cultiba · cultivva · culttiva
  • cultivar ← ccultivar · clutivar · culitvar · culltivar · cultiavr · cultibar · cultivarr · cultivra

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cultiva" and "cultivar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞a] versus [kul̪t̪iˈβ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cultiva" or "cultivar" show up more?
"cultivar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,271 in our Spanish list, against #18,209 for "cultiva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cultiva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cultivar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #226,646 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cultiva" and "cultivar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cultiva vs cursiva". 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 #226,646 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