mercadovsmiradoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mercado is a noun, mirado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#590
“mercado” frequency rank
#13,291
“mirado” frequency rank
13881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mercado mirado
Definition Sitio o edificio destinado a la compraventa de bienes y servicios. Que actúa con respeto o miramiento.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mercado and mirado apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
mercado
6 ch
mirado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mercado is [meɾˈkað̞o] while mirado is [miˈɾað̞o]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mercado is recorded at frequency rank #590, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɾˈkað̞o]. mirado is at rank #13,291, tagged as anadj, pronounced [miˈɾað̞o].

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 13881, this pair ranks #286,198 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mercado vs mirado

Shared letters: admor. Private to "mercado": ce. Private to "mirado": i.

"mercado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "mirado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mercadoemrcado · mecrado · meracdo · mercaddo · mercaod · merccado · mercdao · merrcado
  • miradoimrado · miardo · miraddo · miraod · mirdao · mirrado · mmirado · mriado

Frequency comparison

mercado#590
mirado#13,291

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mercado" and "mirado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mercado" is a noun and "mirado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mercado" or "mirado"?
"mercado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #590 in our Spanish list, against #13,291 for "mirado". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mercado vs mirado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mercado”; for an adjective, it's “mirado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mercado” 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