casadovscastoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,385
“casado” frequency rank
#44,616
“casto” frequency rank
48001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature casado casto
Definition Se dice de la persona que ha contraído matrimonio. 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 casado and casto apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
casado
5 ch
casto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. casado ([kaˈsað̞o]) and casto ([ˈkast̪o]) 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 48001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

casado is recorded at frequency rank #3,385, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaˈsað̞o]. 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 48001, this pair ranks #116,886 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of casado vs casto

Shared letters: acos. Private to "casado": d. Private to "casto": t.

"casado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "casto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • casadoacsado · caasdo · casaddo · casaod · casdao · cassado · ccasado · csaado
  • castoacsto · casot · cassto · castto · catso · ccasto · csato

Frequency comparison

casado#3,385
casto#44,616

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "casado" and "casto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈsað̞o] versus [ˈkast̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "casado" or "casto"?
"casado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,385 in our Spanish list, against #44,616 for "casto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering casado vs casto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “casado” 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