ocultanvsocultoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ocultan is a verb, oculto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ocultan” is a verb and “oculto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,224
“ocultan” frequency rank
#7,761
“oculto” frequency rank
24985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocultan oculto
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ocultar. Que está tapado, cubierto y por lo tanto no se puede ver.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
ocultan
6 ch
oculto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ocultan is [oˈkul̪t̪ãn] while oculto is [oˈkul̪t̪o]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24985, 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]. oculto is at rank #7,761, tagged as anadj, pronounced [oˈkul̪t̪o].

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 24985, this pair ranks #238,544 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ocultan vs oculto

Shared letters: clotu. Private to "ocultan": an. Private to "oculto": -.

"ocultan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "oculto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ocultancoultan · occultan · oclutan · oculatn · oculltan · ocultann · ocultna · oculttan
  • ocultocoulto · occulto · ocluto · ocullto · oculot · ocultto · ocutlo · ouclto

Frequency comparison

ocultan#17,224
oculto#7,761

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ocultan" and "oculto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ocultan" is a verb and "oculto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ocultan" or "oculto"?
"oculto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,761 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.

Remembering ocultan vs oculto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ocultan”; for an adjective, it's “oculto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ocultan” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list