mostrovsmuestroTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#36,172
“mostro” frequency rank
#14,655
“muestro” frequency rank
50827
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mostro muestro
Definition Variante arcaica de monstruo. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de mostrar.

Where the eye mixes mostro and muestro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mostro runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against muestro's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
mostro
7 ch
muestro

Why the eye confuses mostro with muestro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mostro is [ˈmost̪ɾo] while muestro is [ˈmwest̪ɾo]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mostro is recorded at frequency rank #36,172, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmost̪ɾo]. muestro is at rank #14,655, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmwest̪ɾo].

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 50827, this pair ranks #101,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mostro vs muestro

Shared letters: morst. Private to "mostro": -. Private to "muestro": eu.

"mostro" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "muestro" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mostro ← mmostro · mosrto · mosstro · mostor · mostrro · mosttro · motsro · msotro
  • muestro ← meustro · mmuestro · muesrto · muesstro · muestor · muestrro · muesttro · muetsro

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mostro" and "muestro" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mostro" is a noun and "muestro" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mostro" or "muestro" show up more?
"muestro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,655 in our Spanish list, against #36,172 for "mostro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mostro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "muestro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #101,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mostro" and "muestro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mísero vs mostro". 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 #101,148 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