castovscortoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,616
“casto” frequency rank
#1,567
“corto” frequency rank
46183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature casto corto
Definition Persona que se abstiene de todo goce sexual o lo vive de acuerdo a ciertas directrices dictadas por su religión o su moral. Pequeño, especialmente en cuanto a la longitud, duración o extensión, pero también en cuanto a otra dimensión en comparación con otros de su clase o género.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set casto and corto apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
casto
5 ch
corto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. casto ([ˈkast̪o]) and corto ([ˈkoɾt̪o]) 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 46183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

casto is recorded at frequency rank #44,616, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkast̪o]. corto is at rank #1,567, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkoɾt̪o].

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 46183, this pair ranks #127,201 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of casto vs corto

Shared letters: cot. Private to "casto": as. Private to "corto": r.

"casto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "corto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • castoacsto · casot · cassto · castto · catso · ccasto · csato
  • cortoccorto · corot · corrto · cortto · cotro · croto · ocrto

Frequency comparison

casto#44,616
corto#1,567

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "casto" and "corto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkast̪o] versus [ˈkoɾt̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "casto" or "corto"?
"corto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,567 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 casto vs corto

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 “casto” 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