cargandovscolgandoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,415
“cargando” frequency rank
#14,100
“colgando” frequency rank
23515
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cargando colgando
Definition Gerundio de cargar. Gerundio de colgar.

Where the eye mixes cargando and colgando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
cargando
8 ch
colgando

Visual trap between cargando and colgando

A purely visual mix-up. cargando ([kaɾˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]) and colgando ([kolˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]) 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 23515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cargando is recorded at frequency rank #9,415, classified as averb, pronounced [kaɾˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]. colgando is at rank #14,100, tagged as averb, pronounced [kolˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o].

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 23515, this pair ranks #245,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cargando vs colgando

Shared letters: acdgno. Private to "cargando": r. Private to "colgando": l.

"cargando" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "colgando" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cargandoacrgando · cagrando · caragndo · cargadno · carganddo · carganndo · carganod · carggando
  • colgandoccolgando · clogando · coglando · colagndo · colgadno · colganddo · colganndo · colganod

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cargando" for "colgando" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaɾˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o] versus [kolˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cargando" or "colgando" show up more?
"cargando" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,415 in our Spanish list, against #14,100 for "colgando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "cargando" and "colgando" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cargando" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "colgando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #245,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cargando" and "colgando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "callando vs colgando". 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 #245,446 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