maltratadovsmaltratoConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#26,513
“maltratado” frequency rank
#7,876
“maltrato” frequency rank
34389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maltratado maltrato
Definition Que ha sufrido maltrato o abuso. Acción o efecto de maltratar o de maltratarse.

Where the eye mixes maltratado and maltrato

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. maltratado runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCVCV) against maltrato's 8 (CVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
maltratado
8 ch
maltrato

Why the eye confuses maltratado with maltrato

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maltratado is [mal̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o] while maltrato is [mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 34389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maltratado is recorded at frequency rank #26,513, classified as anadj, pronounced [mal̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]. maltrato is at rank #7,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪o].

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 34389, this pair ranks #191,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maltratado vs maltrato

Shared letters: almort. Private to "maltratado": d. Private to "maltrato": -.

"maltratado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "maltrato" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maltratado ← amltratado · malltratado · malrtatado · maltartado · maltraatdo · maltrataddo · maltrataod · maltratdao
  • maltrato ← amltrato · malltrato · malrtato · maltarto · maltraot · maltratto · maltrrato · maltrtao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "maltratado" for "maltrato" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maltratado" is an adjective and "maltrato" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "maltratado" or "maltrato"?
"maltrato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,876 in our Spanish list, against #26,513 for "maltratado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "maltratado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maltrato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #191,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maltratado" and "maltrato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maltratadas vs maltratado". 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

Confusion rank #191,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list