Which to use
“control” is a noun and “controlo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #509
- “control” frequency rank
- #36,491
- “controlo” frequency rank
- 37000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | control | controlo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | El acto o el poder de dominar, dirigir, regular, comandar, controlar. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse. |
Where the eye mixes control and controlo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: control vs controlo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: control is [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾol] while controlo is [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “control” sits inside “controlo”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
control is recorded at frequency rank #509, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾol]. controlo is at rank #36,491, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolo].
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 37000, this pair ranks #177,669 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of control vs controlo
Shared letters: clnort. Private to "control": -. Private to "controlo": -.
"control" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "controlo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "control" and "controlo" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "control" or "controlo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "control" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "controlo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,669 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "control" and "controlo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlen vs controlo". 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 #177,669 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.