atajovsatajosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,712
“atajo” frequency rank
#33,947
“atajos” frequency rank
60659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atajo atajos
Definition Camino más corto que se sale de la ruta marcada. Forma del plural de atajo.

Where the eye mixes atajo and atajos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. atajo runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against atajos's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
atajo
6 ch
atajos

Visual trap between atajo and atajos

A purely visual mix-up. atajo ([aˈt̪axo]) and atajos ([aˈt̪axos]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “atajo” sits inside “atajos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atajo is recorded at frequency rank #26,712, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈt̪axo]. atajos is at rank #33,947, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈt̪axos].

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 60659, this pair ranks #58,183 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of atajo vs atajos

Shared letters: ajot. Private to "atajo": -. Private to "atajos": s.

"atajo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "atajos" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atajoaatjo · atajjo · ataoj · atjao · attajo · taajo
  • atajosaatjos · atajjos · atajoss · atajso · ataojs · atjaos · attajos · taajos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "atajo" and "atajos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈt̪axo] versus [aˈt̪axos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "atajo" vs "atajos" - which ranks higher?
"atajo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,712 in our Spanish list, against #33,947 for "atajos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "atajo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atajos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,183 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atajo" and "atajos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atajos 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 #58,183 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