Which to use
“mercado” and “mercados” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #590
- “mercado” frequency rank
- #2,786
- “mercados” frequency rank
- 3376
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mercado | mercados |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sitio o edificio destinado a la compraventa de bienes y servicios. | Forma del plural de mercado. |
Where the eye mixes mercado and mercados
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mercado vs mercados
A purely visual mix-up. mercado ([meɾˈkað̞o]) and mercados ([meɾˈkað̞os]) 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 extra letter(s) - “mercado” sits inside “mercados”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mercado is recorded at frequency rank #590, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɾˈkað̞o]. mercados is at rank #2,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meɾˈkað̞os].
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 3376, this pair ranks #318,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mercado vs mercados
Shared letters: acdemor. Private to "mercado": -. Private to "mercados": s.
"mercado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "mercados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mercado" and "mercados" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mercado" or "mercados" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mercado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mercados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #318,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mercado" and "mercados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mellado vs mercado". 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 #318,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.