Which to use
“empeñado” is an adjective and “empeñados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,742
- “empeñado” frequency rank
- #39,725
- “empeñados” frequency rank
- 68467
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empeñado | empeñados |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dicho de disputas o reyertas: acalorado, reñido. | Forma del plural de empeñado, participio de empeñar o de empeñarse. |
Where the eye mixes empeñado and empeñados
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. empeñado runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against empeñados's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between empeñado and empeñados
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empeñado is [ẽmpeˈɲað̞o] while empeñados is [ẽmpeˈɲað̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “empeñado” sits inside “empeñados”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empeñado is recorded at frequency rank #28,742, classified as anadj, pronounced [ẽmpeˈɲað̞o]. empeñados is at rank #39,725, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpeˈɲað̞os].
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 68467, this pair ranks #34,414 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empeñado vs empeñados
Shared letters: ademopñ. Private to "empeñado": -. Private to "empeñados": s.
"empeñado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "empeñados" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empeñado" for "empeñados" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empeñado" or "empeñados"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "empeñado" and "empeñados" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empeñado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empeñados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,414 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empeñado" and "empeñados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empeñados vs empujados". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #34,414 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.