faltandovsflotandoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,857
“faltando” frequency rank
#16,341
“flotando” frequency rank
32198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faltando flotando
Definition Gerundio de faltar. Gerundio de flotar.

Where the eye mixes faltando and flotando

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

8 ch
faltando
8 ch
flotando

Why the eye confuses faltando with flotando

A purely visual mix-up. faltando ([fal̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) and flotando ([floˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faltando is recorded at frequency rank #15,857, classified as averb, pronounced [fal̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]. flotando is at rank #16,341, tagged as averb, pronounced [floˈt̪ãn̪d̪o].

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 32198, this pair ranks #203,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faltando vs flotando

Shared letters: adflnot. Private to "faltando": -. Private to "flotando": -.

"faltando" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "flotando" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faltandoafltando · falatndo · falltando · faltadno · faltanddo · faltanndo · faltanod · faltnado
  • flotandofflotando · fllotando · floatndo · flotadno · flotanddo · flotanndo · flotanod · flotnado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "faltando" for "flotando" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fal̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o] versus [floˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "faltando" vs "flotando" - which ranks higher?
"faltando" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,857 in our Spanish list, against #16,341 for "flotando". 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 "faltando" and "flotando" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "faltando" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flotando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #203,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faltando" and "flotando" 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 #203,240 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