locovslongWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“loco” and “long” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#972
“loco” frequency rank
#8,548
“long” frequency rank
9520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loco long
Definition Que no está en su sano juicio, que se comporta de forma irracional. Largo.

Where the eye mixes loco and long

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
loco
4 ch
long

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. loco ([ˈloko]) and long ([lɔ͂]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loco is recorded at frequency rank #972, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈloko]. long is at rank #8,548, tagged as anadj, pronounced [lɔ͂].

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 9520, this pair ranks #301,686 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of loco vs long

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loco": c. Private to "long": gn.

"loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "long" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locolcoo · lloco · locco · looc · olco
  • longllong · lnog · logn · longg · lonng · olng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loco" and "long" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈloko] versus [lɔ͂]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loco" or "long"?
"loco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #972 in our Spanish list, against #8,548 for "long". 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 "loco" and "long". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "loco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "long" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #301,686 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "loco" and "long" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "long vs longo". 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