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 eye mixes ocultan and oculto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ocultan runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against oculto's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ocultan with oculto
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ocultan" for "oculto" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ocultan" or "oculto"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ocultan" and "oculto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ocultan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "oculto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,544 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ocultan" and "oculto" 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 #238,544 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.