Which to use
“castigar” is a verb and “castigo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,417
- “castigar” frequency rank
- #3,463
- “castigo” frequency rank
- 12880
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | castigar | castigo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Imponer un castigo al que ha delinquido, infringido una regla o faltado en alguna cosa. | Pena impuesta a una persona por cometer una falta o delito. |
Where the eye mixes castigar and castigo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. castigar runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against castigo's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses castigar with castigo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: castigar is [kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ] while castigo is [kasˈt̪iɣ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
castigar is recorded at frequency rank #9,417, classified as averb, pronounced [kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]. castigo is at rank #3,463, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kasˈt̪iɣ̞o].
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 12880, this pair ranks #289,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of castigar vs castigo
Shared letters: acgist. Private to "castigar": r. Private to "castigo": o.
"castigar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "castigo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "castigar" and "castigo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "castigar" vs "castigo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "castigar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "castigo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "castigar" and "castigo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "castigar vs castigará". 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 #289,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.