quintovsquinuaConfusable pair

Quick tell: quinto is a num, quinua is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quinto” is a num and “quinua” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,586
“quinto” frequency rank
#38,916
“quinua” frequency rank
42502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quinto quinua
Definition Que ocupa el puesto siguiente al cuarto en una serie ordenada. Ordinal del cinco. (Chenopodium quinoa) Planta anual, de tallo erecto, que puede medir hasta 3 m de altura. Las hojas, alternas, son anchas y polimorfas; el tallo central puede estar más o menos ramificado, dependiendo de la variedad o densidad del sembrado. Las flores, organizadas en panículas, son pequeñas y carecen de pétalos.

Where the eye mixes quinto and quinua

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. quinto (CVVCCV) and quinua (CVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
quinto
6 ch
quinua

Look-alike desk: quinto vs quinua

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quinto is [ˈkĩn̪t̪o] while quinua is [ˈkinwa]. 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 (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quinto is recorded at frequency rank #3,586, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈkĩn̪t̪o]. quinua is at rank #38,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkinwa].

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 42502, this pair ranks #147,832 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quinto vs quinua

Shared letters: inqu. Private to "quinto": ot. Private to "quinua": a.

"quinto" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "quinua" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quinto ← qiunto · qquinto · quinnto · quinot · quintto · quitno · qunito · uqinto
  • quinua ← qiunua · qquinua · quinau · quinnua · quiuna · quniua · uqinua

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quinto" and "quinua" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quinto" is a num and "quinua" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "quinto" or "quinua" show up more?
"quinto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,586 in our Spanish list, against #38,916 for "quinua". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "quinto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quinua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,832 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quinto" and "quinua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quilla vs quinua". 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 #147,832 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