cultivanvscultivoConfusable pair

Quick tell: cultivan is a verb, cultivo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cultivan” is a verb and “cultivo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,087
“cultivan” frequency rank
#3,832
“cultivo” frequency rank
27919
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cultivan cultivo
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cultivar. Acción o efecto de cultivar (en sus diferentes acepciones).

Where the eye mixes cultivan and cultivo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cultivan runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against cultivo's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
cultivan
7 ch
cultivo

Visual trap between cultivan and cultivo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cultivan is [kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞ãn] while cultivo is [kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27919, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cultivan is recorded at frequency rank #24,087, classified as averb, pronounced [kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞ãn]. cultivo is at rank #3,832, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kul̪ˈt̪iβ̞o].

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 27919, this pair ranks #224,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cultivan vs cultivo

Shared letters: ciltuv. Private to "cultivan": an. Private to "cultivo": o.

"cultivan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "cultivo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cultivan ← ccultivan · clutivan · culitvan · culltivan · cultiavn · cultiban · cultivann · cultivna
  • cultivo ← ccultivo · clutivo · culitvo · culltivo · cultibo · cultiov · cultivvo · culttivo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cultivan" and "cultivo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cultivan" is a verb and "cultivo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cultivan" or "cultivo"?
"cultivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,832 in our Spanish list, against #24,087 for "cultivan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cultivan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cultivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #224,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cultivan" and "cultivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cultivan vs cultivando". 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 #224,533 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