marcabavsmarcadoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,706
“marcaba” frequency rank
#4,723
“marcado” frequency rank
30429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marcaba marcado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de marcar. Participio de marcar.

Where the eye mixes marcaba and marcado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. marcaba and marcado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
marcaba
7 ch
marcado

Visual trap between marcaba and marcado

A purely visual mix-up. marcaba ([maɾˈkaβ̞a]) and marcado ([maɾˈkað̞o]) 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 30429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marcaba is recorded at frequency rank #25,706, classified as averb, pronounced [maɾˈkaβ̞a]. marcado is at rank #4,723, tagged as averb, pronounced [maɾˈkað̞o].

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 30429, this pair ranks #212,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of marcaba vs marcado

Shared letters: acmr. Private to "marcaba": b. Private to "marcado": do.

"marcaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "marcado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marcaba ← amrcaba · macraba · maracba · marcaab · marcabba · marcava · marcbaa · marccaba
  • marcado ← amrcado · macrado · maracdo · marcaddo · marcaod · marccado · marcdao · marrcado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marcaba" and "marcado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maɾˈkaβ̞a] versus [maɾˈkað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "marcaba" vs "marcado" - which ranks higher?
"marcado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,723 in our Spanish list, against #25,706 for "marcaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "marcaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "marcado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #212,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "marcaba" and "marcado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marcaba vs mareada". 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 #212,021 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