empezadovsempezamosTell them apart

Which to use

“empezado” and “empezamos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,417
“empezado” frequency rank
#4,003
“empezamos” frequency rank
8420
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empezado empezamos
Definition Participio de empezar. Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de empezar.

Where the eye mixes empezado and empezamos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empezado runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against empezamos's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
empezado
9 ch
empezamos

Visual trap between empezado and empezamos

A purely visual mix-up. empezado ([ẽmpeˈsað̞o]) and empezamos ([ẽmpeˈsamos]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empezado is recorded at frequency rank #4,417, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmpeˈsað̞o]. empezamos is at rank #4,003, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽmpeˈsamos].

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 8420, this pair ranks #305,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of empezado vs empezamos

Shared letters: aemopz. Private to "empezado": d. Private to "empezamos": s.

"empezado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "empezamos" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empezado ← emepzado · emmpezado · empeazdo · empezaddo · empezaod · empezdao · empezzado · emppezado
  • empezamos ← emepzamos · emmpezamos · empeazmos · empezammos · empezamoss · empezamso · empezaoms · empezmaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "empezado" for "empezamos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmpeˈsað̞o] versus [ẽmpeˈsamos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "empezado" vs "empezamos" - which ranks higher?
"empezamos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,003 in our Spanish list, against #4,417 for "empezado". 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 "empezado" and "empezamos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empezado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empezamos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empezado" and "empezamos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empezamos vs empleamos". 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 #305,045 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