maltratanvsmaltratarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,555
“maltratan” frequency rank
#34,205
“maltratar” frequency rank
76760
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maltratan maltratar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de maltratar o de maltratarse. Tratar mal de palabra u obra.

Where the eye mixes maltratan and maltratar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. maltratan and maltratar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
maltratan
9 ch
maltratar

Look-alike desk: maltratan vs maltratar

A purely visual mix-up. maltratan ([mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn]) and maltratar ([mal̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “maltratan” becomes r in “maltratar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maltratan is recorded at frequency rank #42,555, classified as averb, pronounced [mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn]. maltratar is at rank #34,205, tagged as averb, pronounced [mal̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ].

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 76760, this pair ranks #17,158 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maltratan vs maltratar

Shared letters: almrt. Private to "maltratan": n. Private to "maltratar": -.

"maltratan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "maltratar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maltratan ← amltratan · malltratan · malrtatan · maltartan · maltraatn · maltratann · maltratna · maltrattan
  • maltratar ← amltratar · malltratar · malrtatar · maltartar · maltraatr · maltratarr · maltratra · maltrattar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "maltratan" and "maltratar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn] versus [mal̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maltratan" or "maltratar"?
"maltratar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,205 in our Spanish list, against #42,555 for "maltratan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "maltratan" and "maltratar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "maltratan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maltratar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,158 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maltratan" and "maltratar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maltrata vs maltratan". 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 #17,158 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