Which to use
“cartón” is a noun and “cortos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,622
- “cartón” frequency rank
- #4,876
- “cortos” frequency rank
- 13498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cartón | cortos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Material barato compuesto de varias hojas de papel superpuestas y prensadas, utilizado principalemente para embalaje | Forma del plural de corto. |
Where the eye mixes cartón and cortos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cartón with cortos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cartón is [kaɾˈt̪õn] while cortos is [ˈkoɾt̪os]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cartón is recorded at frequency rank #8,622, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaɾˈt̪õn]. cortos is at rank #4,876, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkoɾt̪os].
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 13498, this pair ranks #287,659 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cartón vs cortos
Shared letters: crt. Private to "cartón": anó. Private to "cortos": os.
"cartón" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cortos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cortos ← ccortos · corots · corrtos · cortoss · cortso · corttos · cotros · crotos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cartón" for "cortos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cartón" or "cortos"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cartón" and "cortos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cartón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cortos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #287,659 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cartón" and "cortos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cart vs cartón". 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 #287,659 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.