listovslitoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: listo is a adjective, lito is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“listo” is an adjective and “lito” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,514
“listo” frequency rank
#45,417
“lito” frequency rank
46931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature listo lito
Definition Preparado, dispuesto o aparejado para ejecutar, hacer o usarse en algo. Cama.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set listo and lito apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
listo
4 ch
lito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: listo is [ˈlist̪o] while lito is /ˈli.to/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

listo is recorded at frequency rank #1,514, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlist̪o]. lito is at rank #45,417, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.to/.

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 46931, this pair ranks #122,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of listo vs lito

Shared letters: ilot. Private to "listo": s. Private to "lito": -.

"listo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lito" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • listoilsto · lisot · lissto · listto · litso · llisto · lsito
  • litoilto · liot · litto · llito · ltio

Frequency comparison

listo#1,514
lito#45,417

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "listo" and "lito" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "listo" is an adjective and "lito" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "listo" or "lito"?
"listo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,514 in our Spanish list, against #45,417 for "lito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering listo vs lito

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “listo”; for a noun, it's “lito”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “listo” 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