Which to use
“ladrón” is an adjective and “lavaron” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,848
- “ladrón” frequency rank
- #49,110
- “lavaron” frequency rank
- 54958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ladrón | lavaron |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de lavar. |
Where the eye mixes ladrón and lavaron
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ladrón runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against lavaron's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ladrón and lavaron
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ladrón is [laˈð̞ɾõn] while lavaron is [laˈβ̞aɾõn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ladrón is recorded at frequency rank #5,848, classified as anadj, pronounced [laˈð̞ɾõn]. lavaron is at rank #49,110, tagged as averb, pronounced [laˈβ̞aɾõn].
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 54958, this pair ranks #81,023 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ladrón vs lavaron
Shared letters: alnr. Private to "ladrón": dó. Private to "lavaron": ov.
"ladrón" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lavaron" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lavaron ← alvaron · laavron · labaron · lavaorn · lavarno · lavaronn · lavarron · lavraon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ladrón" for "lavaron" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ladrón" vs "lavaron" - which ranks higher?
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 "ladrón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lavaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,023 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ladrón" and "lavaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lavaron vs Lavarte". 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 #81,023 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.