Which to use
“hierro” is a noun and “hierva” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,781
- “hierro” frequency rank
- #49,052
- “hierva” frequency rank
- 51833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hierro | hierva |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Elemento químico con número atómico 26 cuyo símbolo es Fe. Pertenece al grupo de los metales de transición. Es un metal que se conoce desde la prehistoria y tiene propiedades ferromagnéticas (como imán). | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de hervir. |
Where the eye mixes hierro and hierva
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hierro and hierva follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between hierro and hierva
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hierro is [ˈjero] while hierva is [ˈjeɾβ̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hierro is recorded at frequency rank #2,781, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈjero]. 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 51833, this pair ranks #95,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hierro vs hierva
Shared letters: ehir. Private to "hierro": o. Private to "hierva": av.
"hierro" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "hierva" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hierro" for "hierva" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "hierro" or "hierva" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hierro" 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 #95,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hierro" and "hierva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hidra vs hierva". 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 #95,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.