atascovsatrasoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: atasco is a verb, atraso is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“atasco” is a verb and “atraso” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,937
“atasco” frequency rank
#17,350
“atraso” frequency rank
54287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atasco atraso
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de atascar o de atascarse. Acción o efecto de atrasar y atrasarse.

Where the eye mixes atasco and atraso

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

6 ch
atasco
6 ch
atraso

Visual trap between atasco and atraso

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: atasco is [aˈt̪asko] while atraso is [aˈt̪ɾaso]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atasco is recorded at frequency rank #36,937, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈt̪asko]. atraso is at rank #17,350, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈt̪ɾaso].

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 54287, this pair ranks #84,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of atasco vs atraso

Shared letters: aost. Private to "atasco": c. Private to "atraso": r.

"atasco" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "atraso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atascoaatsco · atacso · atascco · atasoc · atassco · atsaco · attasco · taasco
  • atrasoartaso · atarso · atraos · atrasso · atrraso · atrsao · attraso · taraso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "atasco" for "atraso" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "atasco" is a verb and "atraso" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "atasco" or "atraso"?
"atraso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,350 in our Spanish list, against #36,937 for "atasco". 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 "atasco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atraso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #84,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atasco" and "atraso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atasco vs Atenco". 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 #84,009 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