empleadasvsempleadosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,811
“empleadas” frequency rank
#1,602
“empleados” frequency rank
14413
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empleadas empleados
Definition Forma del femenino plural de empleado, participio de emplear o de emplearse. Forma del plural de empleado, participio de emplear o de emplearse.

Where the eye mixes empleadas and empleados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. empleadas and empleados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
empleadas
9 ch
empleados

Why the eye confuses empleadas with empleados

A purely visual mix-up. empleadas ([ẽmpleˈað̞as]) and empleados ([ẽmpleˈað̞os]) 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 a single letter - a in “empleadas” becomes o in “empleados”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empleadas is recorded at frequency rank #12,811, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpleˈað̞as]. empleados is at rank #1,602, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpleˈað̞os].

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 14413, this pair ranks #284,202 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of empleadas vs empleados

Shared letters: adelmps. Private to "empleadas": -. Private to "empleados": o.

"empleadas" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC  ·  "empleados" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empleadasemlpeadas · emmpleadas · empeladas · emplaedas · empleaads · empleadass · empleaddas · empleadsa
  • empleadosemlpeados · emmpleados · empelados · emplaedos · empleaddos · empleadoss · empleadso · empleaods

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "empleadas" for "empleados" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmpleˈað̞as] versus [ẽmpleˈað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "empleadas" vs "empleados" - which ranks higher?
"empleados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,602 in our Spanish list, against #12,811 for "empleadas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empleadas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empleados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,202 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empleadas" and "empleados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empleadas 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 #284,202 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