cursadavscursarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cursada is a participle, cursar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cursada” is a participle and “cursar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,044
“cursada” frequency rank
#13,880
“cursar” frequency rank
60924
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cursada cursar
Definition Forma del femenino de cursado, participio de cursar. Seguir un curso o una materia.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cursada and cursar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cursada
6 ch
cursar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cursada is [kuɾˈsað̞a] while cursar is [kuɾˈsaɾ]. 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 (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cursada is recorded at frequency rank #47,044, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kuɾˈsað̞a]. cursar is at rank #13,880, tagged as averb, pronounced [kuɾˈsaɾ].

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 60924, this pair ranks #57,213 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cursada vs cursar

Shared letters: acrsu. Private to "cursada": d. Private to "cursar": -.

"cursada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cursar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cursadaccursada · crusada · curasda · currsada · cursaad · cursadda · cursdaa · curssada
  • cursarccursar · crusar · curasr · currsar · cursarr · cursra · curssar · cusrar

Frequency comparison

cursada#47,044
cursar#13,880

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cursada" and "cursar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cursada" is a participle and "cursar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cursada" or "cursar"?
"cursar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,880 in our Spanish list, against #47,044 for "cursada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cursada vs cursar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “cursada”; for a verb, it's “cursar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cursada” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list