Which to use
“maltratan” is a verb and “maltratos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,555
- “maltratan” frequency rank
- #37,707
- “maltratos” frequency rank
- 80262
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maltratan | maltratos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de maltratar o de maltratarse. | Forma del plural de maltrato. |
Where the eye mixes maltratan and maltratos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. maltratan and maltratos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between maltratan and maltratos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maltratan is [mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn] while maltratos is [mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80262, 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]. maltratos is at rank #37,707, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mal̪ˈt̪ɾat̪os].
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 80262, this pair ranks #11,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maltratan vs maltratos
Shared letters: almrt. Private to "maltratan": n. Private to "maltratos": os.
"maltratan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "maltratos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maltratan" and "maltratos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "maltratan" or "maltratos" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maltratan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maltratos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maltratan" and "maltratos" 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 #11,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.