delgadovsdelgadosWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#5,601
“delgado” frequency rank
#25,988
“delgados” frequency rank
31589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delgado delgados
Definition De poca anchura corporal. Forma del plural de delgado.

Where the eye mixes delgado and delgados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. delgado runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against delgados's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
delgado
8 ch
delgados

Why the eye confuses delgado with delgados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delgado is [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞o] while delgados is [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “delgado” sits inside “delgados”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delgado is recorded at frequency rank #5,601, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞o]. delgados is at rank #25,988, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞os].

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 31589, this pair ranks #206,317 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of delgado vs delgados

Shared letters: adeglo. Private to "delgado": -. Private to "delgados": s.

"delgado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "delgados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delgado ← ddelgado · deglado · delagdo · delgaddo · delgaod · delgdao · delggado · dellgado
  • delgados ← ddelgados · deglados · delagdos · delgaddos · delgadoss · delgadso · delgaods · delgdaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delgado" and "delgados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "delgado" is an adjective and "delgados" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "delgado" or "delgados" show up more?
"delgado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,601 in our Spanish list, against #25,988 for "delgados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "delgado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "delgados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,317 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delgado" and "delgados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delgados vs drogados". 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 #206,317 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