encerradovsencerradosWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,108
“encerrado” frequency rank
#14,835
“encerrados” frequency rank
23943
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encerrado encerrados
Definition Participio de encerrar. Forma del plural de encerrado, participio de encerrar.

Where the eye mixes encerrado and encerrados

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

9 ch
encerrado
10 ch
encerrados

Look-alike desk: encerrado vs encerrados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: encerrado is [ẽnseˈrað̞o] while encerrados is [ẽnseˈrað̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “encerrado” sits inside “encerrados”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encerrado is recorded at frequency rank #9,108, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽnseˈrað̞o]. encerrados is at rank #14,835, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽnseˈrað̞os].

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 23943, this pair ranks #243,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encerrado vs encerrados

Shared letters: acdenor. Private to "encerrado": -. Private to "encerrados": s.

"encerrado" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "encerrados" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encerradoecnerrado · enccerrado · encerado · encerardo · encerraddo · encerraod · encerrdao · encrerado
  • encerradosecnerrados · enccerrados · encerados · encerardos · encerraddos · encerradoss · encerradso · encerraods

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "encerrado" and "encerrados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "encerrado" is a verb and "encerrados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "encerrado" or "encerrados"?
"encerrado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,108 in our Spanish list, against #14,835 for "encerrados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encerrado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encerrados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encerrado" and "encerrados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encerradas vs encerrados". 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 #243,449 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