faltadovsfaltandoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,091
“faltado” frequency rank
#15,857
“faltando” frequency rank
30948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faltado faltando
Definition Participio de faltar. Gerundio de faltar.

Where the eye mixes faltado and faltando

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

7 ch
faltado
8 ch
faltando

Look-alike desk: faltado vs faltando

A purely visual mix-up. faltado ([fal̪ˈt̪að̞o]) and faltando ([fal̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) 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 30948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faltado is recorded at frequency rank #15,091, classified as averb, pronounced [fal̪ˈt̪að̞o]. faltando is at rank #15,857, tagged as averb, pronounced [fal̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o].

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 30948, this pair ranks #209,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faltado vs faltando

Shared letters: adflot. Private to "faltado": -. Private to "faltando": n.

"faltado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "faltando" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faltado ← afltado · falatdo · falltado · faltaddo · faltaod · faltdao · falttado · fatlado
  • faltando ← afltando · falatndo · falltando · faltadno · faltanddo · faltanndo · faltanod · faltnado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faltado" and "faltando" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fal̪ˈt̪að̞o] versus [fal̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "faltado" or "faltando" show up more?
"faltado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,091 in our Spanish list, against #15,857 for "faltando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "faltado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "faltando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #209,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faltado" and "faltando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faltando vs filtrando". 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 #209,540 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