atacadovsatacoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,666
“atacado” frequency rank
#40,141
“ataco” frequency rank
47807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atacado ataco
Definition Participio de atacar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de atacar.

Where the eye mixes atacado and ataco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. atacado runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against ataco's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
atacado
5 ch
ataco

Visual trap between atacado and ataco

A purely visual mix-up. atacado ([at̪aˈkað̞o]) 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 differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atacado is recorded at frequency rank #7,666, classified as averb, pronounced [at̪aˈkað̞o]. 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 47807, this pair ranks #117,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of atacado vs ataco

Shared letters: acot. Private to "atacado": d. Private to "ataco": -.

"atacado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "ataco" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atacado ← aatcado · ataacdo · atacaddo · atacaod · ataccado · atacdao · atcaado · attacado
  • ataco ← aatco · atacco · ataoc · atcao · attaco · taaco

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "atacado" and "ataco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([at̪aˈkað̞o] versus [aˈt̪ako]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "atacado" or "ataco" show up more?
"atacado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,666 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "atacado" 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 #117,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atacado" 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 #117,983 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