tejovstercoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tejo is a noun, terco is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tejo and terco apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tejo
5 ch
terco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • tejoetjo · tejjo · teoj · tjeo · ttejo
  • tercoetrco · tecro · tercco · teroc · terrco · treco · tterco

Frequency comparison

tejo#46,836
terco#29,415

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tejo" and "terco" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tejo" is a noun and "terco" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tejo" or "terco"?
"terco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,415 in our Spanish list, against #46,836 for "tejo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tejo vs terco

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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