canceladovscancelanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,320
“cancelado” frequency rank
#33,980
“cancelan” frequency rank
46300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cancelado cancelan
Definition Participio de cancelar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cancelar.

Where the eye mixes cancelado and cancelan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
cancelado
8 ch
cancelan

Why the eye confuses cancelado with cancelan

A purely visual mix-up. cancelado ([kãnseˈlað̞o]) and cancelan ([kãnˈselãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cancelado is recorded at frequency rank #12,320, classified as averb, pronounced [kãnseˈlað̞o]. cancelan is at rank #33,980, tagged as averb, pronounced [kãnˈselãn].

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 46300, this pair ranks #126,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cancelado vs cancelan

Shared letters: aceln. Private to "cancelado": do. Private to "cancelan": -.

"cancelado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "cancelan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canceladoacncelado · cacnelado · canccelado · cancealdo · canceladdo · cancelaod · canceldao · cancellado
  • cancelanacncelan · cacnelan · canccelan · cancealn · cancelann · cancellan · cancelna · canclean

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cancelado" for "cancelan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kãnseˈlað̞o] versus [kãnˈselãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cancelado" vs "cancelan" - which ranks higher?
"cancelado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,320 in our Spanish list, against #33,980 for "cancelan". 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 "cancelado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cancelan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #126,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cancelado" and "cancelan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cancelan vs concedan". 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 #126,523 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