explicóvsexplotoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,321
“explicó” frequency rank
#39,232
“exploto” frequency rank
42553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature explicó exploto
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de explicar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de explotar.

Where the eye mixes explicó and exploto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
explicó
7 ch
exploto

Visual trap between explicó and exploto

A purely visual mix-up. explicó ([ekspliˈko]) and exploto ([eksˈplot̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

explicó is recorded at frequency rank #3,321, classified as averb, pronounced [ekspliˈko]. exploto is at rank #39,232, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksˈplot̪o].

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 42553, this pair ranks #147,569 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of explicó vs exploto

Shared letters: elpx. Private to "explicó": ció. Private to "exploto": ot.

"explicó" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "exploto" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • explotoepxloto · exlpoto · explloto · exploot · explotto · expltoo · expolto · expploto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "explicó" for "exploto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ekspliˈko] versus [eksˈplot̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "explicó" or "exploto"?
"explicó" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,321 in our Spanish list, against #39,232 for "exploto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "explicó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exploto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,569 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "explicó" and "exploto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "explore vs exploto". 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 #147,569 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