servidavsservilWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: servida is a participle, servil is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“servida” is a participle and “servil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,863
“servida” frequency rank
#36,819
“servil” frequency rank
59682
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature servida servil
Definition Forma del femenino de servido, participio de servir o de servirse. Que pertenece o concierne a la servidumbre y a los siervos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set servida and servil apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
servida
6 ch
servil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

servida and servil 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 59682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

servida is recorded at frequency rank #22,863, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [seɾˈβ̞ið̞a]. servil is at rank #36,819, tagged as anadj, pronounced [seɾˈβ̞il].

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 59682, this pair ranks #61,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

servida#22,863
servil#36,819

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "servida" and "servil" be used interchangeably?
No, "servida" and "servil" 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 servida vs servil

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “servida”; for an adjective, it's “servil”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “servida” 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