Which to use
“ahogados” is an adjective and “apagados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,870
- “ahogados” frequency rank
- #35,867
- “apagados” frequency rank
- 70737
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ahogados | apagados |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de ahogado¹. | Forma del plural de apagado, participio de apagar. |
Where the eye mixes ahogados and apagados
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ahogados and apagados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses ahogados with apagados
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ahogados is [aoˈɣ̞að̞os] while apagados is [apaˈɣ̞að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ahogados is recorded at frequency rank #34,870, classified as anadj, pronounced [aoˈɣ̞að̞os]. apagados is at rank #35,867, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [apaˈɣ̞að̞os].
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 70737, this pair ranks #29,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ahogados vs apagados
Shared letters: adgos. Private to "ahogados": h. Private to "apagados": p.
"ahogados" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC · "apagados" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ahogados" for "apagados" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ahogados" or "apagados"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ahogados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apagados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ahogados" and "apagados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apagados vs apurados". 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 #29,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.