explicadovsexplicanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,556
“explicado” frequency rank
#6,668
“explican” frequency rank
14224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature explicado explican
Definition Participio de explicar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de explicar.

Where the eye mixes explicado and explican

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
explicado
8 ch
explican

Visual trap between explicado and explican

A purely visual mix-up. explicado ([ekspliˈkað̞o]) and explican ([eksˈplikãn]) 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 14224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

explicado is recorded at frequency rank #7,556, classified as averb, pronounced [ekspliˈkað̞o]. explican is at rank #6,668, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksˈplikãn].

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 14224, this pair ranks #284,957 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of explicado vs explican

Shared letters: aceilpx. Private to "explicado": do. Private to "explican": n.

"explicado" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV  ·  "explican" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • explicadoepxlicado · exlpicado · expilcado · explciado · expliacdo · explicaddo · explicaod · expliccado
  • explicanepxlican · exlpican · expilcan · explcian · expliacn · explicann · expliccan · explicna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "explicado" for "explican" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ekspliˈkað̞o] versus [eksˈplikãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "explicado" or "explican"?
"explican" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,668 in our Spanish list, against #7,556 for "explicado". 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 "explicado" and "explican" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "explicado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "explican" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,957 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "explicado" and "explican" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "expirado vs explicado". 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 #284,957 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