hatovshurtoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,377
“hato” frequency rank
#22,047
“hurto” frequency rank
53424
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hato hurto
Definition Ropa y pequeño ajuar para el uso preciso y ordinario. Acción o efecto de hurtar.

Where the eye mixes hato and hurto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hato runs 4 letters (CVCV) against hurto's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
hato
5 ch
hurto

Why the eye confuses hato with hurto

A purely visual mix-up. hato ([ˈat̪o]) and hurto ([ˈuɾt̪o]) 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 53424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hato is recorded at frequency rank #31,377, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈat̪o]. hurto is at rank #22,047, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈuɾt̪o].

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 53424, this pair ranks #87,936 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hato vs hurto

Shared letters: hot. Private to "hato": a. Private to "hurto": ru.

"hato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hurto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hato ← ahto · haot · hatto · hhato · htao
  • hurto ← hhurto · hruto · hurot · hurrto · hurtto · hutro · uhrto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hato" for "hurto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈat̪o] versus [ˈuɾt̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "hato" or "hurto" show up more?
"hurto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,047 in our Spanish list, against #31,377 for "hato". 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 "hato" and "hurto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hurto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #87,936 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hato" and "hurto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hahn vs hato". 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 #87,936 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