finalizarvsfinalizóWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,834
“finalizar” frequency rank
#12,606
“finalizó” frequency rank
18440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature finalizar finalizó
Definition Concluir, terminar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de finalizar.

Where the eye mixes finalizar and finalizó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. finalizar runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCVC) against finalizó's 8 (CVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
finalizar
8 ch
finalizó

Why the eye confuses finalizar with finalizó

A purely visual mix-up. finalizar ([finaliˈsaɾ]) and finalizó ([finaliˈso]) 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 18440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

finalizar is recorded at frequency rank #5,834, classified as averb, pronounced [finaliˈsaɾ]. finalizó is at rank #12,606, tagged as averb, pronounced [finaliˈso].

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 18440, this pair ranks #267,899 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of finalizar vs finalizó

Shared letters: afilnz. Private to "finalizar": r. Private to "finalizó": ó.

"finalizar" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "finalizó" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • finalizar ← ffinalizar · fianlizar · finailzar · finaliazr · finalizarr · finalizra · finalizzar · finallizar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "finalizar" for "finalizó" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([finaliˈsaɾ] versus [finaliˈso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "finalizar" or "finalizó"?
"finalizar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,834 in our Spanish list, against #12,606 for "finalizó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "finalizar" and "finalizó" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "finalizar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "finalizó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,899 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "finalizar" and "finalizó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "finalizan vs finalizó". 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 #267,899 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