Which to use
“tercera” is a noun and “tercero” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,332
- “tercera” frequency rank
- #3,024
- “tercero” frequency rank
- 4356
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tercera | tercero |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nota que está ubicada a seis semitonos de la tónica (primera de cada escalea) | Que en una serie de tres o más cosas, personas o animales, ocupa el lugar número tres en importancia, valor, ubicación, etc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tercera and tercero apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
tercera and tercero form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “tercera” becomes o in “tercero” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tercera is recorded at frequency rank #1,332, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪eɾˈseɾa]. tercero is at rank #3,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t̪eɾˈseɾo].
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 4356, this pair ranks #316,288 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tercera" and "tercero" be used interchangeably?
Remembering tercera vs tercero
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tercera”; for an adjective, it's “tercero”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tercera” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable