listovslutoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,514
“listo” frequency rank
#11,444
“luto” frequency rank
12958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature listo luto
Definition Preparado, dispuesto o aparejado para ejecutar, hacer o usarse en algo. Expresión de pena por la muerte de una persona, se manifiesta en la ropa y accesorios de color negro, así como en adornos que se colocan en el lugar donde vivía o donde se vela el difunto.

Where the eye mixes listo and luto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
listo
4 ch
luto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: listo is [ˈlist̪o] while luto is [ˈlut̪o]. 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 12958, 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]. luto is at rank #11,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlut̪o].

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 12958, this pair ranks #289,662 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of listo vs luto

Shared letters: lot. Private to "listo": is. Private to "luto": u.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • listoilsto · lisot · lissto · listto · litso · llisto · lsito
  • lutolluto · ltuo · luot · lutto · ulto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "listo" and "luto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "listo" is an adjective and "luto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "listo" or "luto"?
"listo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,514 in our Spanish list, against #11,444 for "luto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "listo" and "luto". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "listo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,662 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "listo" and "luto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lotto vs luto". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list