elaboradovselaboradosTell them apart

Quick tell: elaborado is a verb, elaborados is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“elaborado” is a verb and “elaborados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,014
“elaborado” frequency rank
#13,447
“elaborados” frequency rank
20461
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature elaborado elaborados
Definition Participio de elaborar. Forma del plural de elaborado, participio de elaborar.

Where the eye mixes elaborado and elaborados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. elaborado runs 9 letters (VCVCVCVCV) against elaborados's 10 (VCVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
elaborado
10 ch
elaborados

Why the eye confuses elaborado with elaborados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: elaborado is [elaβ̞oˈɾað̞o] while elaborados is [elaβ̞oˈɾað̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “elaborado” sits inside “elaborados”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

elaborado is recorded at frequency rank #7,014, classified as averb, pronounced [elaβ̞oˈɾað̞o]. elaborados is at rank #13,447, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [elaβ̞oˈɾað̞os].

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 20461, this pair ranks #259,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of elaborado vs elaborados

Shared letters: abdelor. Private to "elaborado": -. Private to "elaborados": s.

"elaborado" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCV  ·  "elaborados" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • elaborado ← ealborado · elabborado · elaboardo · elaboraddo · elaboraod · elabordao · elaborrado · elabroado
  • elaborados ← ealborados · elabborados · elaboardos · elaboraddos · elaboradoss · elaboradso · elaboraods · elabordaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "elaborado" and "elaborados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "elaborado" is a verb and "elaborados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "elaborado" or "elaborados" show up more?
"elaborado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,014 in our Spanish list, against #13,447 for "elaborados". 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 "elaborado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "elaborados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #259,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "elaborado" and "elaborados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elaborados vs elaboraron". 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 #259,249 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