servidorvsservirWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: servidor is a adjective, servir is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“servidor” is an adjective and “servir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,046
“servidor” frequency rank
#2,475
“servir” frequency rank
7521
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature servidor servir
Definition Que sirve. Ser útil para algo.

Where the eye mixes servidor and servir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
servidor
6 ch
servir

Why the eye confuses servidor with servir

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: servidor is [seɾβ̞iˈð̞oɾ] while servir is [seɾˈβ̞iɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

servidor is recorded at frequency rank #5,046, classified as anadj, pronounced [seɾβ̞iˈð̞oɾ]. servir is at rank #2,475, tagged as averb, pronounced [seɾˈβ̞iɾ].

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 7521, this pair ranks #307,772 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of servidor vs servir

Shared letters: eirsv. Private to "servidor": do. Private to "servir": -.

"servidor" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "servir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • servidorcervidor · esrvidor · serbidor · serivdor · serrvidor · servdior · serviddor · servidorr
  • servircervir · esrvir · serbir · serivr · serrvir · servirr · servri · servvir

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "servidor" and "servir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "servidor" is an adjective and "servir" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "servidor" or "servir" show up more?
"servir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,475 in our Spanish list, against #5,046 for "servidor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "servidor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "servir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #307,772 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "servidor" and "servir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "servidor vs surtidor". 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 #307,772 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