tercosvstríosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tercos is a adjective, tríos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tercos” is an adjective and “tríos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,727
“tercos” frequency rank
#40,581
“tríos” frequency rank
89308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tercos tríos
Definition Forma del plural de terco. Forma del plural de trío.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tercos and tríos apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
tercos
5 ch
tríos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tercos is [ˈt̪eɾkos] while tríos is [ˈt̪ɾios]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tercos is recorded at frequency rank #48,727, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾkos]. tríos is at rank #40,581, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ɾios].

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 89308, this pair ranks #3,209 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tercos vs tríos

Shared letters: orst. Private to "tercos": ce. Private to "tríos": í.

"tercos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tríos" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tercosetrcos · tecros · terccos · tercoss · tercso · terocs · terrcos · trecos

Frequency comparison

tercos#48,727
tríos#40,581

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tercos" and "tríos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tercos" is an adjective and "tríos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tercos" or "tríos"?
"tríos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,581 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 tercos vs tríos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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