colmadovscortadoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#39,645
“colmado” frequency rank
#8,360
“cortado” frequency rank
48005
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature colmado cortado
Definition Tienda dedicada al expendio por menor de provisiones y vituallas, en general no perecederas. Se dice de la persona de carácter tímido y retraído.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set colmado and cortado apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
colmado
7 ch
cortado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: colmado is [kolˈmað̞o] while cortado is [koɾˈt̪að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

colmado is recorded at frequency rank #39,645, classified as anoun, pronounced [kolˈmað̞o]. cortado is at rank #8,360, tagged as anadj, pronounced [koɾˈt̪að̞o].

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 48005, this pair ranks #116,863 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of colmado vs cortado

Shared letters: acdo. Private to "colmado": lm. Private to "cortado": rt.

"colmado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cortado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • colmadoccolmado · clomado · colamdo · collmado · colmaddo · colmaod · colmdao · colmmado
  • cortadoccortado · coratdo · corrtado · cortaddo · cortaod · cortdao · corttado · cotrado

Frequency comparison

colmado#39,645
cortado#8,360

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "colmado" and "cortado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "colmado" is a noun and "cortado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "colmado" or "cortado"?
"cortado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,360 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 colmado vs cortado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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