ocultanvsocultarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,224
“ocultan” frequency rank
#5,023
“ocultar” frequency rank
22247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocultan ocultar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ocultar. Esconder algo a la vista.

Where the eye mixes ocultan and ocultar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ocultan and ocultar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
ocultan
7 ch
ocultar

Look-alike desk: ocultan vs ocultar

A purely visual mix-up. ocultan ([oˈkul̪t̪ãn]) and ocultar ([okul̪ˈt̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “ocultan” becomes r in “ocultar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ocultan is recorded at frequency rank #17,224, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈkul̪t̪ãn]. ocultar is at rank #5,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [okul̪ˈt̪aɾ].

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 22247, this pair ranks #251,233 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ocultan vs ocultar

Shared letters: aclotu. Private to "ocultan": n. Private to "ocultar": r.

"ocultan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "ocultar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ocultan ← coultan · occultan · oclutan · oculatn · oculltan · ocultann · ocultna · oculttan
  • ocultar ← coultar · occultar · oclutar · oculatr · oculltar · ocultarr · ocultra · oculttar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ocultan" and "ocultar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([oˈkul̪t̪ãn] versus [okul̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ocultan" or "ocultar"?
"ocultar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,023 in our Spanish list, against #17,224 for "ocultan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ocultan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ocultar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,233 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ocultan" and "ocultar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ocultan vs ocultaron". 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 #251,233 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