calcovscastoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: calco is a noun, casto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“calco” is a noun and “casto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,977
“calco” frequency rank
#44,616
“casto” frequency rank
91593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calco casto
Definition Acción y efecto de calcar Persona que se abstiene de todo goce sexual o lo vive de acuerdo a ciertas directrices dictadas por su religión o su moral.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set calco and casto apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
calco
5 ch
casto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calco is [ˈkalko] while casto is [ˈkast̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calco is recorded at frequency rank #46,977, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkalko]. casto is at rank #44,616, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkast̪o].

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 91593, this pair ranks #1,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calco vs casto

Shared letters: aco. Private to "calco": l. Private to "casto": st.

"calco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "casto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calcoaclco · caclo · calcco · callco · caloc · ccalco · claco
  • castoacsto · casot · cassto · castto · catso · ccasto · csato

Frequency comparison

calco#46,977
casto#44,616

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calco" and "casto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "calco" is a noun and "casto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "calco" or "casto"?
"casto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,616 in our Spanish list, against #46,977 for "calco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering calco vs casto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “calco”; for an adjective, it's “casto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “calco” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list