licenciadovslicenciadosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: licenciado is a verb, licenciados is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“licenciado” is a verb and “licenciados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,920
“licenciado” frequency rank
#21,050
“licenciados” frequency rank
27970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature licenciado licenciados
Definition Participio de licenciar. Forma del plural de licenciado, participio de licenciar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set licenciado and licenciados apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
licenciado
11 ch
licenciados

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: licenciado is [lisẽnˈsjað̞o] while licenciados is [lisẽnˈsjað̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “licenciado” sits inside “licenciados”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

licenciado is recorded at frequency rank #6,920, classified as averb, pronounced [lisẽnˈsjað̞o]. licenciados is at rank #21,050, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [lisẽnˈsjað̞os].

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 27970, this pair ranks #224,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of licenciado vs licenciados

Shared letters: acdeilno. Private to "licenciado": -. Private to "licenciados": s.

"licenciado" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCV  ·  "licenciados" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • licenciadoilcenciado · lcienciado · liccenciado · licecniado · licencaido · licencciado · licenciaddo · licenciaod
  • licenciadosilcenciados · lcienciados · liccenciados · licecniados · licencaidos · licencciados · licenciaddos · licenciadoss

Frequency comparison

licenciado#6,920
licenciados#21,050

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "licenciado" and "licenciados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "licenciado" is a verb and "licenciados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "licenciado" or "licenciados"?
"licenciado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,920 in our Spanish list, against #21,050 for "licenciados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering licenciado vs licenciados

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “licenciado”; for a participle, it's “licenciados”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “licenciado” 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