tercovstercosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“terco” and “tercos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,415
“terco” frequency rank
#48,727
“tercos” frequency rank
78142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature terco tercos
Definition Que no cambia su opinión o proceder, pese a las razones en sentido contrario. Forma del plural de terco.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set terco and tercos apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
terco
6 ch
tercos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. terco ([ˈt̪eɾko]) and tercos ([ˈt̪eɾkos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “terco” sits inside “tercos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

terco is recorded at frequency rank #29,415, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾko]. tercos is at rank #48,727, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾkos].

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 78142, this pair ranks #14,898 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of terco vs tercos

Shared letters: ceort. Private to "terco": -. Private to "tercos": s.

"terco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tercos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tercoetrco · tecro · tercco · teroc · terrco · treco · tterco
  • tercosetrcos · tecros · terccos · tercoss · tercso · terocs · terrcos · trecos

Frequency comparison

terco#29,415
tercos#48,727

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "terco" and "tercos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪eɾko] versus [ˈt̪eɾkos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "terco" or "tercos"?
"terco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,415 in our Spanish list, against #48,727 for "tercos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering terco vs tercos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “terco” 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