Which to use
“tejo” is a noun and “terco” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,836
- “tejo” frequency rank
- #29,415
- “terco” frequency rank
- 76251
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tejo | terco |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pedazo de piedra plana y redondeada, o trozo de teja que se usa en diversos juegos. | Que no cambia su opinión o proceder, pese a las razones en sentido contrario. |
Where the eye mixes tejo and terco
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tejo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against terco's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tejo with terco
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tejo is [ˈt̪exo] while terco is [ˈt̪eɾko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tejo is recorded at frequency rank #46,836, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪exo]. terco is at rank #29,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾko].
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 76251, this pair ranks #18,090 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tejo vs terco
Shared letters: eot. Private to "tejo": j. Private to "terco": cr.
"tejo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "terco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tejo" and "terco" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tejo" or "terco" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "tejo" and "terco" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tejo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,090 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tejo" and "terco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tapo vs tejo". 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 #18,090 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.