derivadovsderivóWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,970
“derivado” frequency rank
#23,747
“derivó” frequency rank
33717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature derivado derivó
Definition Elemento que procede o tiene su origen en otro. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de derivar.

Where the eye mixes derivado and derivó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. derivado runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against derivó's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
derivado
6 ch
derivó

Why the eye confuses derivado with derivó

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derivado is [d̪eɾiˈβ̞að̞o] while derivó is [d̪eɾiˈβ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 33717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

derivado is recorded at frequency rank #9,970, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪eɾiˈβ̞að̞o]. derivó is at rank #23,747, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eɾiˈβ̞o].

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 33717, this pair ranks #195,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of derivado vs derivó

Shared letters: deirv. Private to "derivado": ao. Private to "derivó": ó.

"derivado" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "derivó" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • derivado ← dderivado · deirvado · deriavdo · deribado · derivaddo · derivaod · derivdao · derivvado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "derivado" for "derivó" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "derivado" is an adjective and "derivó" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "derivado" or "derivó" show up more?
"derivado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,970 in our Spanish list, against #23,747 for "derivó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "derivado" and "derivó" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "derivado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "derivó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "derivado" and "derivó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derivó vs divo". 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 #195,275 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