coladovscolmadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: colado is a adjective, colmado is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“colado” is an adjective and “colmado” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,945
“colado” frequency rank
#39,645
“colmado” frequency rank
65590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature colado colmado
Definition Sustancia pasada a través de un colador. Tienda dedicada al expendio por menor de provisiones y vituallas, en general no perecederas.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set colado and colmado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
colado
7 ch
colmado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: colado is [koˈlað̞o] while colmado is [kolˈmað̞o]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

colado is recorded at frequency rank #25,945, classified as anadj, pronounced [koˈlað̞o]. colmado is at rank #39,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kolˈmað̞o].

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 65590, this pair ranks #42,200 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of colado vs colmado

Shared letters: acdlo. Private to "colado": -. Private to "colmado": m.

"colado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "colmado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coladoccolado · cloado · coaldo · coladdo · colaod · coldao · oclado
  • colmadoccolmado · clomado · colamdo · collmado · colmaddo · colmaod · colmdao · colmmado

Frequency comparison

colado#25,945
colmado#39,645

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "colado" and "colmado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "colado" is an adjective and "colmado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "colado" or "colmado"?
"colado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,945 in our Spanish list, against #39,645 for "colmado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering colado vs colmado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “colado”; for a noun, it's “colmado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “colado” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list