marcadosvsmercadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: marcados is a participle, mercado is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“marcados” is a participle and “mercado” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,196
“marcados” frequency rank
#590
“mercado” frequency rank
12786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marcados mercado
Definition Forma del plural de marcado, participio de marcar. Sitio o edificio destinado a la compraventa de bienes y servicios.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marcados and mercado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
marcados
7 ch
mercado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marcados is [maɾˈkað̞os] while mercado is [meɾˈkað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marcados is recorded at frequency rank #12,196, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [maɾˈkað̞os]. mercado is at rank #590, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meɾˈkað̞o].

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 12786, this pair ranks #290,282 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of marcados vs mercado

Shared letters: acdmor. Private to "marcados": s. Private to "mercado": e.

"marcados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "mercado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marcadosamrcados · macrados · maracdos · marcaddos · marcadoss · marcadso · marcaods · marccados
  • mercadoemrcado · mecrado · meracdo · mercaddo · mercaod · merccado · mercdao · merrcado

Frequency comparison

marcados#12,196
mercado#590

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marcados" and "mercado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marcados" is a participle and "mercado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marcados" or "mercado"?
"mercado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #590 in our Spanish list, against #12,196 for "marcados". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering marcados vs mercado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “marcados”; for a noun, it's “mercado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marcados” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list