ledovsleyóWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ledo is a adjective, leyó is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ledo” is an adjective and “leyó” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,033
“ledo” frequency rank
#9,486
“leyó” frequency rank
55519
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ledo leyó
Definition Alegre, contento. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de leer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ledo and leyó apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ledo
4 ch
leyó

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ledo is [ˈleð̞ʊ] while leyó is [leˈʝo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55519, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ledo is recorded at frequency rank #46,033, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleð̞ʊ]. leyó is at rank #9,486, tagged as averb, pronounced [leˈʝo].

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 55519, this pair ranks #78,502 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ledo vs leyó

Shared letters: el. Private to "ledo": do. Private to "leyó": .

"ledo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "leyó" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ledoeldo · ldeo · leddo · leod · lledo

Frequency comparison

ledo#46,033
leyó#9,486

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ledo" and "leyó" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ledo" is an adjective and "leyó" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ledo" or "leyó"?
"leyó" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,486 in our Spanish list, against #46,033 for "ledo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ledo vs leyó

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ledo”; for a verb, it's “leyó”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ledo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list