Which to use
“sirvió” and “surgió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,158
- “sirvió” frequency rank
- #4,838
- “surgió” frequency rank
- 9996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sirvió | surgió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de servir. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de surgir. |
Where the eye mixes sirvió and surgió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sirvió and surgió follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between sirvió and surgió
A purely visual mix-up. sirvió ([siɾˈβ̞jo]) and surgió ([suɾˈxjo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sirvió is recorded at frequency rank #5,158, classified as averb, pronounced [siɾˈβ̞jo]. surgió is at rank #4,838, tagged as averb, pronounced [suɾˈxjo].
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 9996, this pair ranks #300,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sirvió vs surgió
Shared letters: irsó. Private to "sirvió": v. Private to "surgió": gu.
"sirvió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "surgió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sirvió" for "surgió" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sirvió" vs "surgió" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sirvió" and "surgió" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sirvió" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "surgió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sirvió" and "surgió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sumergió vs surgió". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #300,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.