apeladovsapoyadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,978
“apelado” frequency rank
#6,032
“apoyado” frequency rank
50010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apelado apoyado
Definition Participio de apelar. Participio de apoyar o de apoyarse.

Where the eye mixes apelado and apoyado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. apelado (VCVCVCV) and apoyado (VCVVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
apelado
7 ch
apoyado

Why the eye confuses apelado with apoyado

A purely visual mix-up. apelado ([apeˈlað̞o]) and apoyado ([apoˈʝað̞o]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apelado is recorded at frequency rank #43,978, classified as averb, pronounced [apeˈlað̞o]. apoyado is at rank #6,032, tagged as averb, pronounced [apoˈʝað̞o].

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 50010, this pair ranks #105,601 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apelado vs apoyado

Shared letters: adop. Private to "apelado": el. Private to "apoyado": y.

"apelado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "apoyado" · 7 letters · shape VCVVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apeladoaeplado · apealdo · apeladdo · apelaod · apeldao · apellado · apleado · appelado
  • apoyadoaopyado · apoaydo · apoyaddo · apoyaod · apoydao · apoyyado · appoyado · apyoado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apelado" and "apoyado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([apeˈlað̞o] versus [apoˈʝað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "apelado" or "apoyado"?
"apoyado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,032 in our Spanish list, against #43,978 for "apelado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "apelado" and "apoyado" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apelado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apoyado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,601 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apelado" and "apoyado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apelado vs apenado". 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 #105,601 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