Which to use
“apretado” is an adjective and “apretados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,040
- “apretado” frequency rank
- #27,859
- “apretados” frequency rank
- 44899
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | apretado | apretados |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Muy junto y falto de espacio. | Forma del plural de apretado, participio de apretar. |
Where the eye mixes apretado and apretados
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. apretado runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against apretados's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between apretado and apretados
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apretado is [apɾeˈt̪að̞o] while apretados is [apɾeˈt̪að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “apretado” sits inside “apretados”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
apretado is recorded at frequency rank #17,040, classified as anadj, pronounced [apɾeˈt̪að̞o]. apretados is at rank #27,859, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [apɾeˈt̪að̞os].
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 44899, this pair ranks #134,480 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of apretado vs apretados
Shared letters: adeoprt. Private to "apretado": -. Private to "apretados": s.
"apretado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "apretados" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "apretado" and "apretados" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "apretado" or "apretados" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "apretado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apretados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,480 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "apretado" and "apretados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apretadas vs apretados". 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 #134,480 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.