marcadovsmarcaronTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,723
“marcado” frequency rank
#15,416
“marcaron” frequency rank
20139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marcado marcaron
Definition Participio de marcar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de marcar.

Where the eye mixes marcado and marcaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
marcado
8 ch
marcaron

Why the eye confuses marcado with marcaron

A purely visual mix-up. marcado ([maɾˈkað̞o]) and marcaron ([maɾˈkaɾõn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marcado is recorded at frequency rank #4,723, classified as averb, pronounced [maɾˈkað̞o]. marcaron is at rank #15,416, tagged as averb, pronounced [maɾˈkaɾõn].

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 20139, this pair ranks #260,634 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of marcado vs marcaron

Shared letters: acmor. Private to "marcado": d. Private to "marcaron": n.

"marcado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "marcaron" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marcadoamrcado · macrado · maracdo · marcaddo · marcaod · marccado · marcdao · marrcado
  • marcaronamrcaron · macraron · maracron · marcaorn · marcarno · marcaronn · marcarron · marccaron

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marcado" and "marcaron" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maɾˈkað̞o] versus [maɾˈkaɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "marcado" or "marcaron" show up more?
"marcado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,723 in our Spanish list, against #15,416 for "marcaron". 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 "marcado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "marcaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #260,634 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "marcado" and "marcaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mamado vs marcado". 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 #260,634 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