cortadovscortandoConfusable pair

Quick tell: cortado is a adjective, cortando is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#8,360
“cortado” frequency rank
#13,215
“cortando” frequency rank
21575
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cortado cortando
Definition Se dice de la persona de carácter tímido y retraído. Gerundio de cortar.

Where the eye mixes cortado and cortando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
cortado
8 ch
cortando

Look-alike desk: cortado vs cortando

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cortado is [koɾˈt̪að̞o] while cortando is [koɾˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cortado is recorded at frequency rank #8,360, classified as anadj, pronounced [koɾˈt̪að̞o]. cortando is at rank #13,215, tagged as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪ãn̪d̪o].

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 21575, this pair ranks #254,294 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cortado vs cortando

Shared letters: acdort. Private to "cortado": -. Private to "cortando": n.

"cortado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "cortando" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortadoccortado · coratdo · corrtado · cortaddo · cortaod · cortdao · corttado · cotrado
  • cortandoccortando · coratndo · corrtando · cortadno · cortanddo · cortanndo · cortanod · cortnado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cortado" and "cortando" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cortado" is an adjective and "cortando" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cortado" or "cortando" show up more?
"cortado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,360 in our Spanish list, against #13,215 for "cortando". 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 "cortado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cortando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,294 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cortado" and "cortando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cortador vs cortando". 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 #254,294 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