HidravshiervaTell them apart

Quick tell: Hidra is a name, hierva is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hidra” is a name and “hierva” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,703
“Hidra” frequency rank
#49,052
“hierva” frequency rank
98755
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hidra hierva
Definition Nombre de una constelación, situada entre el Centauro y el León. Es vecina de las constelaciones del Centauro, la Balanza (Libra), la Virgen, el Cuervo, la Copa (Crátera, en español, o Crater, en latín), el Sextante, el León (Leo), el Cangrejo (Cáncer), el Can Menor (Canis Minor), el Unicornio (Monoceros), la Popa, la Brújula (Pyxis) y la Máquina Neumática (Antlia). Es la más extensa de todas las constelaciones. Su estrella principal es Alphard (el solitario), la estrella sigma Hya se llama tambiénAl Minliar Al Shuja (la nariz de la serpiente, en árabe). La constelación representa al monstruo de mil cabezas que volvian a nacer en cuanto Hércules las cortaba, según la mitología griega. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de hervir.

Where the eye mixes Hidra and hierva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hidra runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against hierva's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Hidra
6 ch
hierva

Look-alike desk: Hidra vs hierva

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hidra is [ˈið̞ɾa] while hierva is [ˈjeɾβ̞a]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 98755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hidra is recorded at frequency rank #49,703, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈið̞ɾa]. hierva is at rank #49,052, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈjeɾβ̞a].

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 98755, this pair ranks #46 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Hidra vs hierva

Shared letters: ahir. Private to "Hidra": d. Private to "hierva": ev.

"Hidra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hierva" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hidra ← hdira · hhidra · hidar · hiddra · hidrra · hirda · ihdra
  • hierva ← heirva · hhierva · hierav · hierrva · hiervva · hievra · hireva · iherva

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hidra" and "hierva" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hidra" is a name and "hierva" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "Hidra" or "hierva" show up more?
"hierva" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #49,052 in our Spanish list, against #49,703 for "Hidra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hidra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hierva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hidra" and "hierva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hidra vs hurra". 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 #46 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