apagóvsapagónWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: apagó is a verb, apagón is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“apagó” is a verb and “apagón” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,937
“apagó” frequency rank
#15,276
“apagón” frequency rank
38213
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apagó apagón
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de apagar. Corte temporal, súbito e inesperado del suministro de energía eléctrica.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
apagó
6 ch
apagón

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apagó is [apaˈɣ̞o] while apagón is [apaˈɣ̞õn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “apagó” sits inside “apagón”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apagó is recorded at frequency rank #22,937, classified as averb, pronounced [apaˈɣ̞o]. apagón is at rank #15,276, tagged as anoun, pronounced [apaˈɣ̞õn].

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 38213, this pair ranks #171,213 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apagó vs apagón

Shared letters: agpó. Private to "apagó": -. Private to "apagón": n.

"apagó" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "apagón" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Frequency comparison

apagó#22,937
apagón#15,276

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apagó" and "apagón" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "apagó" is a verb and "apagón" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "apagó" or "apagón"?
"apagón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,276 in our Spanish list, against #22,937 for "apagó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering apagó vs apagón

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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