apagóvsatacoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,937
“apagó” frequency rank
#40,141
“ataco” frequency rank
63078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apagó ataco
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de apagar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de atacar.

Where the eye mixes apagó and ataco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. apagó and ataco follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
apagó
5 ch
ataco

Look-alike desk: apagó vs ataco

A purely visual mix-up. apagó ([apaˈɣ̞o]) and ataco ([aˈt̪ako]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63078, 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]. ataco is at rank #40,141, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈt̪ako].

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 63078, this pair ranks #49,928 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apagó vs ataco

Shared letters: a. Private to "apagó": gpó. Private to "ataco": cot.

"apagó" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ataco" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ataco ← aatco · atacco · ataoc · atcao · attaco · taaco

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apagó" and "ataco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([apaˈɣ̞o] versus [aˈt̪ako]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "apagó" vs "ataco" - which ranks higher?
"apagó" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,937 in our Spanish list, against #40,141 for "ataco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apagó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ataco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,928 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apagó" and "ataco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ataco vs ataron". 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 #49,928 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list