cargadosvscerradosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,035
“cargados” frequency rank
#6,153
“cerrados” frequency rank
21188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cargados cerrados
Definition Forma del plural de cargado, participio de cargar. Forma del plural de cerrado, participio de cerrar.

Where the eye mixes cargados and cerrados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cargados and cerrados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
cargados
8 ch
cerrados

Why the eye confuses cargados with cerrados

A purely visual mix-up. cargados ([kaɾˈɣ̞að̞os]) and cerrados ([seˈrað̞os]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cargados is recorded at frequency rank #15,035, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kaɾˈɣ̞að̞os]. cerrados is at rank #6,153, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [seˈrað̞os].

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 21188, this pair ranks #256,000 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cargados vs cerrados

Shared letters: acdors. Private to "cargados": g. Private to "cerrados": e.

"cargados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "cerrados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cargados ← acrgados · cagrados · caragdos · cargaddos · cargadoss · cargadso · cargaods · cargdaos
  • cerrados ← ccerrados · cerados · cerardos · cerraddos · cerradoss · cerradso · cerraods · cerrdaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cargados" for "cerrados" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaɾˈɣ̞að̞os] versus [seˈrað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cargados" or "cerrados"?
"cerrados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,153 in our Spanish list, against #15,035 for "cargados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cargados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cerrados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,000 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cargados" and "cerrados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cargados vs curados". 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 #256,000 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