hierrovshirióWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,781
“hierro” frequency rank
#20,068
“hirió” frequency rank
22849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hierro hirió
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). Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de herir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hierro and hirió apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
hierro
5 ch
hirió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

hierro and hirió form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22849, 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]. hirió is at rank #20,068, tagged as averb, pronounced [iˈɾjo].

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 22849, this pair ranks #248,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

hierro#2,781
hirió#20,068

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hierro" and "hirió" be used interchangeably?
No, "hierro" and "hirió" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering hierro vs hirió

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hierro”; for a verb, it's “hirió”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hierro” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list