colgarvscolgóTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,636
“colgar” frequency rank
#18,768
“colgó” frequency rank
29404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature colgar colgó
Definition Sujetar algo o alguien de modo que no toque el suelo. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de colgar o de colgarse.

Where the eye mixes colgar and colgó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. colgar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against colgó's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
colgar
5 ch
colgó

Why the eye confuses colgar with colgó

A purely visual mix-up. colgar ([kolˈɣ̞aɾ]) and colgó ([kolˈɣ̞o]) 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 29404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

colgar is recorded at frequency rank #10,636, classified as averb, pronounced [kolˈɣ̞aɾ]. colgó is at rank #18,768, tagged as averb, pronounced [kolˈɣ̞o].

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 29404, this pair ranks #217,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of colgar vs colgó

Shared letters: cglo. Private to "colgar": ar. Private to "colgó": ó.

"colgar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "colgó" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • colgarccolgar · clogar · coglar · colagr · colgarr · colggar · colgra · collgar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "colgar" for "colgó" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kolˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [kolˈɣ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "colgar" or "colgó" show up more?
"colgar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,636 in our Spanish list, against #18,768 for "colgó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "colgar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "colgó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #217,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "colgar" and "colgó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colgó vs coo". 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 #217,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list