Which to use
“sirven” and “sirvo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,448
- “sirven” frequency rank
- #18,082
- “sirvo” frequency rank
- 21530
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sirven | sirvo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de servir. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de servir. |
Where the eye mixes sirven and sirvo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sirven runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against sirvo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sirven with sirvo
A purely visual mix-up. sirven ([ˈsiɾβ̞ẽn]) and sirvo ([ˈsiɾβ̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sirven is recorded at frequency rank #3,448, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsiɾβ̞ẽn]. sirvo is at rank #18,082, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsiɾβ̞o].
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 21530, this pair ranks #254,510 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sirven vs sirvo
Shared letters: irsv. Private to "sirven": en. Private to "sirvo": o.
"sirven" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sirvo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sirven" and "sirvo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sirven" vs "sirvo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sirven" and "sirvo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sirven" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sirvo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,510 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sirven" and "sirvo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sarro vs sirvo". 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 #254,510 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.